What If the Girls Started a Pact?
by the gleek of -what if
Summary: Rachel let Puck knock her up. The other girls don't think she should be going through it alone.
1. Chapter 1

**So, here's my newest What If. _What If the Girls Started a Pact? _I started to write this a while ago, but I never really took off with it until I finished _What If School of Rock was Glee's Childhood? _I'm currently working on two other stories, but I'm going to be working on this one more often until I get it done. Then I'll probably post my St. Fabray What If, and then another parody-type thing, sort of like _WISORWGC_, but not using School of Rock this time. :)**

**And since I started to write this some time ago, Kurt is still with New Directions, and Quinn, Santana, and Brittany are still on the Cheerios. I think that's all . . . If there's anything else that seems to be not up-to-date with the show, y'know why.**

**Anyway, enough of my jabbering. :)**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Glee, why would I be writing a _fan_fiction?**

* * *

Quinn Fabray gathered her books from her locker, trying to remember whether or not she had U.S. History next period. As she was about to grab the textbook, Rachel Berry appeared next to her, exclaiming a loud greeting that made Quinn jump, her books tumbling out of her arms. Quinn knelt down and picked up the textbooks and binders. She straightened her back and looked at Rachel, waiting for her to say something.

"I didn't mean to frighten you. I just have a question," Rachel said quietly.

Quinn sighed. "What?"

"How bad is it being pregnant?" Rachel asked. Quinn slowly turned to look at the other girl. Rachel's expression was totally casual, as if she'd just asked Quinn the time. The blond cocked an eyebrow, shifting her books over to one side awkwardly.

"Why do you want to know?" Quinn asked.

Rachel refrained from rolling her eyes. "I thought it might be pretty obvious when I asked the question," she said. "I'm pregnant."

Quinn's eyes widened. "Who's the father?"

Rachel bit her lip. She really didn't want to tell Quinn the truth; the blond girl would surely hate her forever. She folded her arms across her chest and tried to put herself in Quinn's position. If she had already had a baby and the father got her former archenemy pregnant, there was no doubt in Rachel's mind that that certain girl would once again become her nemesis. And she didn't want Quinn to hate her as much as she did about a year ago.

"Well," Rachel started, "it's . . . um . . . it's . . ."

"It's Puck, isn't it?" Quinn asked.

"Yes."

Quinn nodded. "I figured, judging by the way you were so hesitant to tell me. I'm not mad at you. I know how persuasive he can be, and I know all about the fact that he'll do anything to get into someone's pants."

Rachel smiled.

"Hey, girls." Mercedes Jones approached Quinn and Rachel, Tina Cohen-Chang at her side. "What's new?"

"Puckerman got another lucky girl loaded," Quinn explained. Rachel elbowed her in the arm and Quinn bit back a grin.

"Really?" Mercedes smiled; she loved all kinds of gossip.

"Who is it?" Tina asked.

Quinn was about to answer, but Rachel was quick to cover the taller girl's mouth with her hand. "Oh, does it really matter who it is? It really isn't something that the two of you should know in the first place." She shot a glare at Quinn and took her hand away. Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Sure, Preggo," Mercedes said to Rachel. "You're the most predictable person in the world. Don't try to hide the fact that, in nine months, your youth is gonna be tossed out the window."

Rachel sighed. "Okay, it's me," she admitted. "In my defense, Noah took me to a party with upperclassmen and got me drunk. I didn't even know it was alcohol when I was drinking it; I thought it was just something that had gone bad and taken on an awfully bitter taste."

"So naïve," Quinn breathed, shaking her head as she closed her locker.

Tina began to blush slightly. "Well, I don't think you should be . . . going this alone, Rachel."

The three other girls all stared at her with strange expressions.

"I mean, shouldn't we do this with her?" Tina suggested. "We're all a family."

Quinn scoffed. "Nobody else decided to get pregnant when Puck impregnated me."

"We didn't really know you. Plus, you were kind of a bitch to all of us," Tina recalled. She stepped slightly behind Mercedes in fear of the strong Cheerio getting into a catfight with her, just like Quinn and Santana had weeks ago.

"We'd have to get Brittany and Santana to agree to this, too," Mercedes said. "Not to mention the guys."

"'Cedes, you want to go through with this?" Quinn asked in disbelief.

Mercedes shrugged and nodded.

Rachel sighed dramatically. "Guys, I don't want you to do this just because I was reckless one night and let Noah take advantage of me."

"We want to, Rachel," Tina assured the shorter girl.

"I don't. Being pregnant is awful," Quinn sneered. "We're not discussing Glee Club or something. We're talking about taking care of a whole other life for nine grueling months." She glanced at Rachel. "I don't mean to, like, scare you or anything, but I didn't think it would be that bad until I actually went through it. This is a big deal!"

Mercedes took a deep breath. "Quinn, we're going to do this. It's okay if you decide you don't want to, but I'm sure we can convince Santana and Brittany to do it, too. And, with enough persuasion, the guys will help us, too, I'm sure. But you don't have to."

Quinn sighed as the other three began discussing how they'd try to convince the guys. The blonde pondered the whole thought in her mind. What if she did join this pact and get pregnant again? Would her mother kick her out of the house like her father did when she was pregnant with Beth? Would she end up changing her mind halfway through the pregnancy? Who would she want the father to be?

If her mother did kick her out, she'd just stay with whoever the father would be. And if that failed, she'd stay with Mercedes, just like the first time. If she changed her mind during the pregnancy, she could just give the baby up for adoption and not have to deal with it, just like she had with Beth.

Quinn watched as Rachel, Mercedes, and Tina began walking away. Quickly, she caught up with them and jumped in front of them, preventing them from walking any further.

Without thinking of all the pain and agony the next nine months would involve, she announced, "I'm in."

With that, she was whisked through the hallway, enveloped in hugs and giggles and cheers. She was in the choir room then, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the other three girls in front of their fellow Glee Clubbers. Luckily, Mr. Schuester wasn't in the room at the time. The remaining eight members looked wonderingly at the four girls standing before them.

"We have something we want to do," Tina said, "and we're going to need everyone else's help."

"Rachel's pregnant. Puckerman knocked her up," Mercedes declared. Everyone's eyes moved to Puck, whose own eyes widened. Rachel blushed.

"Anyway," Tina continued for Mercedes, "we don't want Rachel to have to go through this alone. So Mercedes, Quinn, and I have decided to go through this with her. We're making a pregnancy pact. We were hoping Santana and Brittany would join us, too."

Quinn added, "Also, the guys' sperm would be of good use."

"All of our babies can grow up together. This way, the club will never be torn apart," Rachel said with an optimistic grin. "We can take care of the kids, they can have playdates, and we can go to each other's houses to help care for the others' babies."

"So, what do you say, everyone?"

"I'll do it," Santana sighed. "I get sex and any kid of mine will be damn awesome."

Brittany nodded. "If Santana's doing it, then I will."

Finn waved his hand in the air. "I guess I will." He turned to his friends. "That is, only if you guys do it, too."

Sam shrugged. "Guess I will, then."

Mike and Artie agreed to help as well. The only two that didn't were Puck and Kurt. Kurt, for obvious reasons. Puck was about to be a father of two at seventeen; he sure as hell didn't want three.

"So, since Rachel's already got one in the oven, there are five girls that need knocking up," Tina observed.

"And there are only four guys," Mercedes added.

"I call Quinn," Sam said suddenly, rising to his feet and approaching Quinn. He snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her toward him. Quinn didn't object. She loved Sam, even if he was only a sophomore.

"Well, one of the guys is going to have to double up," Tina told them.

Artie raised his hand. "I will."

"Artie?" Rachel asked. "Are you sure?"

Artie shrugged. "Why not?"

"I guess I'll take Finnocence," Santana sighed, looking at her nails.

Finn swallowed hard, his eyes widening just a bit.

"Come on, Hudson. You and I have already done it together, so it'll probably be less nerve-racking for you." Santana cocked an eyebrow as she folded her arms across her chest. "Maybe this time you won't keep apologizing every five seconds for putting your hands somewhere awkward, and I'll know to prepare myself for your slightly disturbing orgasm face."

Puck laughed aloud. Sam, Mike, and Mercedes chuckled under their breath. Quinn bit her lip to keep from letting out a laugh.

Santana headed toward the choir room door. "Let's get it done, quarterback."

Finn stood slowly. "Wait, right now?" he asked. "But we'll miss rehearsal. Mr. Schuester will be wondering where we are. And where, exactly, are we doing this?"

"Janitor's closet. Yo, Q, cover for me and Frankenteen if Schue asks," the Latina called over her shoulder, her dark, curly ponytail bouncing as she sashayed into the hall.

"Got it." Quinn stepped forward and placed her hand on Finn's arm. "Good luck, Finn."

The tall boy shot his ex-girlfriend a terrified glance. Sure, he'd done it with Santana before, but now they were taking absolutely no precautions in pregnancy; in fact, they were doing exactly the opposite. They were trying to get pregnant. The thought scared Finn.

"It'll all work out in the end," Quinn promised, giving him a reassuring smile. "Trust me."

Finn nodded, grinned at her, took a deep breath, and followed Santana's tracks out the door. The room fell silent then; everyone was trying to picture Santana suddenly leaning out of a janitor's closet and pulling a confused Finn into the second time of his life.

Mercedes broke the sudden silence. "So Britt gets Artie, since they're dating," she said.

"You and I can get together, too, 'Cedes." Artie made sure Brittany was daydreaming and not paying any attention before he said, "I really don't think Britt will care much."

"Really?" Mercedes asked. She shrugged. "All right, then. Britt and I will take Artie. There's our double."

The wheelchair-bound footballer smiled, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Works for me."

"So that leaves Mike and me." Tina took Mike's hand.

"Fantastic!" Rachel beamed.

Mr. Schuester entered the choir room then. "Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late."

As the kids headed to their seats, Sam stealthily murmured in Quinn's ear, "Parents are out tonight. My place; seven o'clock." His voice sent shivers down Quinn's spine as the two sat and shared a smile.

"Where are Finn and Santana?"

"Santana started to get sick," Quinn lied, "so Finn volunteered to take her home."

"Oh. Well, that's okay." Mr. Schuester smiled. "Today's lesson is on a singer I'm sure all of you know. One of her songs, a very personal favorite of mine, _Disturbia_—"

"_Disturbia_, like Finn's orgasm face?" Brittany asked. Without even making an effort to stop himself, Puck burst out laughing. Rachel sighed heavily, rolling her eyes. Mercedes closed her eyes and muttered "Oh, God" under her breath. Artie twisted around in his wheelchair to look at Brittany, shaking his head gently to tell her that she was wrong.

Mr. Schuester's brow puckered. "Uh . . . what was that, Brittany?"

"_Disturbia_. That's what Finn's orgasm face is. Isn't that what Santana—"

"No, Brittany," Sam exclaimed, cutting Brittany off.

"Santana said _disturbing_, not _Disturbia_," Tina clarified.

Puck had stopped laughing, and it fell silent in the choir room. Mr. Schuester looked out at all of the kids, and they stared back at him.

"So, let me get this straight. Santana said that Finn's"—Mr. Schuester shifted a little—"orgasm face is disturbing?"

Quinn shrugged. "Pretty much."

The teacher sighed. "Santana didn't get sick, did she?"

"They're in the janitor's closet," Mike admitted. The rest of the club nodded in agreement. Out of the blue, Mercedes started giggling softly. Everybody turned to her. She continued to laugh quietly, biting her lip in an attempt to stop. After a moment or two, Mike started to laugh with her. Puck joined in, followed by Quinn, Artie, and then Sam. Rachel, Tina, and Kurt smiled but laughed on the inside. Brittany just smiled, but she wasn't sure if everybody was laughing at her misunderstanding.

Mr. Schuester was blushing. He'd just been told that two of his students were having sex in a janitor's closet. Which was pretty funny. He smiled, shaking his head. "All right, guys. Back to our lesson. Let's forget about _Disturbia_. I was talking about Rihanna."

"But I bet that face really is wicked creepy."

"Moving on, Puck!"


	2. Chapter 2

**I send my sincere apologies, my friends! I've been super busy for the past few weeks, so that's the reason for the late update.**

**Anyway, enjoy. :D**

* * *

Rachel found it hard to look at Finn for the next few days, knowing what he'd done with Santana in that janitor's closet. Sam and Quinn had done it at Sam's house that same day. The only others who had sex on that day were Tina and Mike.

The day after that, however, Brittany had invited Artie over and they did the deed. That very night, Artie went to Mercedes' house and did it with her. The boy felt like a god, having had sex with two girls in a single day.

Now, on the third day of their pact, the girls were in the ladies' room of McKinley, discussing the times they had doing it with the guys. Rachel and Santana were sitting cross-legged on the counter next to the bathroom sinks. Quinn leaned against one of the stalls. Mercedes was applying makeup in the mirror. Brittany and Tina were kneeling on the floor—they knew it was awfully unsanitary, but they didn't care—and Brittany was doing Tina's nails.

"I wasn't even expecting it that day," Tina said. "I went over Mike's for dinner. We ate, and then he put in some cheesy movie that I had no interest in watching. It barely played for ten minutes before Mike practically jumped me and then carried me to his bedroom."

"Sam was so romantic." Quinn smiled, remembering the moment. "He's usually just a big dork, but he dimmed the lights in his bedroom and lit candles all around the bed. He played _Just The Way You Are _really softly on the radio. It was so perfect." She shrugged at the other girls. "For a virgin, he actually wasn't bad. He seemed to know what he was doing, for the most part. It was a more special time than with Puckerman, for sure."

"I don't remember much," Rachel sighed. "I was completely drunk. I just remember waking up totally unclad next to Noah at a very early hour in an unfamiliar bed. I threw up in the bathroom, got dressed, and ran for it. I got a stern lecture from my dads."

"This is the second time I've done it with Artie," Brittany reminded everyone. "He couldn't really do much either time, though, because he can't move his legs."

"I found it awkward. He seemed pretty psyched, though." Mercedes started to put on mascara. "I guess it was kinda fun. Wasn't bad for a first time. But, again, awkward. Super weird."

"Finn still had awkward hand placements, but at least he caught himself before constantly apologizing." Santana shook her head. "But that face. It's just so damn weird! He opens his mouth and it looks like he's waiting to be fed or something, and the way he squeezes his eyes shut makes him look like he's constipated."

The other five burst out laughing.

"It's true. He was actually better this time, though. A pretty good time."

Meanwhile, the guys were talking about the exact same thing in the choir room. Kurt was at the piano, letting his fingers glide across the keys. Sam and Mike sat in the first row of chairs. Mike's chair was backwards. Artie's wheelchair was next to Sam. Finn and Puck sat in the second row.

"Just to be sure," Finn muttered uneasily, "we all . . . hit home, right?"

The others nodded, and Sam said, "They can't get pregnant if they're not inseminated first."

Finn shrugged. "True."

"I didn't expect much from Berry," Puck breathed. "I mean, she's a total prude and she was completely trashed. But she kinda gave Pucksaurus a good ride." He nodded once at Sam. "How was Quinn?"

"Amazing," Sam answered simply. "She really made it clear who the virgin was in the relationship."

"I showed her everything she knows." Puck grinned conceitedly.

Finn rolled his eyes, and Kurt called from where he was seated at the piano, "You're such a pig, Puckerman."

"Whoa, Hummel. I didn't even know you were in here," Puck grumbled. "You might wanna try to speak up, pansy."

Kurt shot him a glare and went back to playing the piano.

"I gotta give props to Mercedes," Artie said. "She was good. Almost as good as Brittany, and Britt's the one who's really experienced."

"I was freaked out with Santana. I mean, she totally knows what she's doing," Finn muttered, "and I'm always just kinda going along. The first time was really awful." He shrugged. "But I guess this time wasn't as bad."

Mike sighed. "Tina likes to be on top, but so do I. We were kind of, like, battling it out. Whoever ended up on top got to be the topper in the relationship."

"So did Tina win?" Artie asked.

"In my defense, I was really tired that day."

"Save it, Chang," Puck howled. "She's wearin' the pants in that relationship now, man."

The girls were smart and had gone into the restroom to talk. It was free period, so most students at McKinley were either roaming the halls, chatting with friends by their lockers, or studying if they _had_ no friends. Nobody really went into the bathroom during free period. The boys, on the other hand, had unthinkingly selected the choir room to have their meeting, which led right to the office Mr. Schuester was working in. The teacher exited his office and stared at the boys.

"I couldn't help but overhear," he explained. "Did I hear that you all took advantage of a girl in the club?"

Kurt's hand shot in the air. "Not me."

"Artie got two," Mike mumbled.

"It's a pact," Puck breathed. "I knocked Rachel up, so the rest of the girls decided to get pregnant with her. They couldn't do that without us. So Finn did Santana, Sam did Quinn, Mike did Tina, and Artie did Brittany and Mercedes. They'll all be loaded in no time."

"That's terrible! I can't believe the girls would do something like that!" Mr. Schue's eyes narrowed. "I can't believe you all agreed to it."

Sam's wide mouth curled into a smile. "It's free sex, Mr. Schue," he chuckled. "Of course we're gonna agree to it."

"But did it ever cross any of your minds that you're going to be _fathers _at seventeen years old?" Mr. Schue gestured toward Sam. "Or, in Sam's case, _sixteen_? And if this is a pact, none of the girls are going to give the babies up for adoption. You're going to have to man up and take care of those kids! Did any of you stop and think about that before agreeing to this because you'd get 'free sex'?"

Kurt grinned smugly at the five guys that looked at each other in silence.

Mr. Schue sighed. "That's what I thought."

"Look, you can't say anything to anyone," Finn told the teacher, getting to his feet and moving toward Mr. Schue. "Sure, we didn't stop and think first, but what's done is done, and we weren't even supposed to tell you about it in the first place. Just let this go on as it is."

"And please don't tell the mysophobic ginger," Puck added.

Sam nodded. "She'll get the girls one by one and they'll know we told."

"Someone needs to know about this!" Mr. Schue exclaimed.

"Someone _does_ know. You," Finn pointed out. "Please, Mr. Schue. Promise us you won't tell."

Mr. Schuester ran a hand through his lathered brown curls. "Fine. I promise."

"Thank you!"

* * *

"How are we going to get pregnancy tests without our parents knowing?" Mercedes wondered aloud as she, Tina, and Quinn walked down the hall together.

"My parents didn't know," Quinn said. "I just bought a box at the pharmacy. When I was done with them, I threw them all away in the dumpster at the Lima Freeze, along with the receipt. My parents didn't suspect a thing."

"Doesn't the nurse have tests, too?" Tina asked.

Quinn nodded. "She does."

"We could just ask her in a few weeks. Then we could all find out together because we'll all be in school," Tina suggested.

Mercedes smiled. "Good idea, T."

Suddenly, the girls saw Rachel walking toward them. As she went past, Quinn shifted her books over to one arm and used her free hand to grab Rachel's forearm, whirling the short brunette around. Rachel blinked her wide brown eyes in somewhat of a daze, wondering how she ended up walking with Quinn, Mercedes, and Tina in such a short amount of time. She shook her head and glanced at Tina on the left of her, and then Quinn and Mercedes on her other side.

"What just happened?" Rachel asked in a confused tone.

Mercedes and Quinn laughed. Tina observed, "You seem really tired, Rach. You're usually not this out-of-it."

"I _am _really tired. I barely got three hours of sleep last night," Rachel explained groggily.

"Why?" Mercedes questioned.

Rachel shrugged. "I was really tired, but I just couldn't fall asleep. I'm not sure why."

"You were probably just stressed," Quinn tried. "Were you thinking about the pact?"

"I couldn't think of anything _but_."

"Well, there's your answer." Quinn shrugged just as the bell rang. The girls bid each other goodbye and went to their separate classes. Quinn was off to U.S. History, the only class she had with Finn. She liked sitting next to him; he made her smile. Sam was in the class, too, but he sat a row behind them. Quinn always had to reassure him that everything was fine when he seethed with jealously of Finn sitting beside _his_ girlfriend.

Quinn got to class and sat down next to Finn. The two said hello to each other, and then Quinn waved to Sam behind her. He smiled and nodded at her. When Quinn turned back around, Sam sighed dazedly and stared at his older woman's flowing blond hair, as creepy as it was to just gaze at the back of someone's head. He wasn't really jealous of Finn today. Maybe because Quinn was carrying his baby now, and Finn had a child of his own by another girl on the way—at least, that's what they were sure of without a pregnancy test—so Sam didn't have to worry about the two getting together. Not when they had children to worry about now.

He would be with Quinn forever. Just him, his beautiful love, and their future child. And they'd be perfect. And Finn could be with Santana and whatever child the two of them could possibly create together. Sam pictured a tiny Latino with messy hair and brown eyes, smirking conceitedly and standing awkwardly tall. The thought made him chuckle under his breath. Quinn turned around to look at him, wondering what he was laughing about. He just shrugged. Quinn giggled, turning around again. Sam loved their relationship; they didn't need to speak to communicate. They understood each other in a way that no one else could.

To Sam, that was true love. In his eyes, anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't ship Finchel at all. I can't stand them. :) Sorry, Finchel fans, but I ship Puckleberry and Fuinn! I also shipped Quam for a while, but now I've jumped ship to Samtana. :D So I ship Puckleberry, Fuinn, Samtana, Artina, Quick, Brittana, Klaine, St. Berry, and Wemma. Those are my OTPs, and I usually like to put them in my stories. I'm letting you know ahead of time so you can prepare yourself for pairings that you dislike!**

**As previously stated, I hate Finchel, so I won't usually write them, but it really depends on how the stories turn out.**

**Anyway, I don't own Glee and blah, so enjoy. :)**

* * *

It had been two weeks since the Glee kids had started the pact. Now it was the moment of truth. Brittany was in the nurse's office, and Rachel, Quinn, Mercedes, Tina, and Santana waited out in the hall. Rachel already knew she was pregnant, and Brittany was the first of the five unsure to test. After a few moments, the ditzy blond exited the nurse's office and was swarmed with chatters of anticipation.

"The nurse said I'm pregnant," Brittany told them emotionlessly. Mercedes and Tina exchanged a high-five. Quinn smiled, placing her hand on Brittany's shoulder. Rachel clapped and grinned brightly. Santana was sitting on the railing of the staircase, her back against the wall as she filed her nails; she wasn't paying much attention.

Mercedes took a deep breath, smoothing out her multicolored zip-up hoodie. "I'm up. Wish me luck!" She stepped into the nurse's office as the other girls waited once again.

"What did the nurse have you do?" Tina asked Brittany.

"She handed me a white stick and told me to go in the bathroom and pee on it," Brittany explained. "When I came out, she stared at me weirdly and then said, 'You're pregnant,' and she sounded really mad."

Rachel shrugged. "I just told my dads I thought I was pregnant as soon as I started to feel strange," she said. "Daddy went out and bought a test for me. Then I got lectured."

"Your dads always seem to be lecturing you," Quinn observed.

"I always seem to need lecturing lately."

Mercedes emerged from the nurse's office moments later. She wore an expression that made her look worried and a bit confused. The other girls were immediately concerned. Perhaps Mercedes wasn't pregnant. What would they do then? Mercedes looked over her shoulder, saw that the nurse wasn't watching her, and then she turned back to her friends with a wide grin and squealed, "I'm pregnant!"

As Tina hugged her best friend, Rachel smiled and gave Mercedes a thumbs-up. "Nice acting skills, 'Cedes!"

"I'll go now," Quinn volunteered, heading into the nurse's office.

About ten minutes later, Quinn and Tina were revealed to be pregnant as well. The five girls looked to Santana, who was still sitting on the railing and filing her nails.

"San." Brittany tapped Santana's shoulder. "Your turn."

Santana looked up. "Huh? I don't need to go. I already know I'm pregnant. Took a test a couple days back."

Rachel gasped. "Santana!"

"What?"

"We agreed that we'd all test together," Quinn reminded the Latina.

Santana shrugged, gesturing toward Rachel. "Dwarf here tested two weeks before the rest of us."

"That's because she had sex two weeks before the rest of us," Mercedes sighed.

"Look, we all know now, and we're all pregnant." Santana hopped down off the railing. "So let's have a party to celebrate!"

"Let's not." Rachel slung her bag over her shoulder just as the last bell rang. "You can let all of the guys know the good news tonight, and then you can have a good night's rest before having to tell your parents."

"Awesome."

"It's a plan."

* * *

"I really don't think this was such a good idea," Quinn informed Sam, an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach.

"Why?" Sam asked. "Are you pregnant or not?"

Quinn swallowed hard. "I'm pregnant," she told him, emerging from the bathroom that led right to her bedroom. "The nurse gave me a test at school today. But now that I am, I guess there's no turning back, huh?"

Sam shrugged as he sat down at the foot of Quinn's bed. "Guess not."

Quinn went over to her full-length mirror and lifted her shirt a bit, admiring her flat stomach. It wouldn't be so flat in a few months. Her eyes moved to Sam's reflection. He was sitting with his hands folded in his lap, looking on as Quinn caressed her skin with one hand.

"I'm so sorry for sucking you into this pact." Quinn closed her eyes.

Sam's brow puckered. "I agreed to it. It was ultimately my choice, Q."

"Sam, you just turned sixteen. You're a sophomore," Quinn reminded the blond boy. "You're a year younger than me, and yet, I'm carrying your child. You're not even old enough to see an R-rated movie and you're going to be a father. You're not ready!"

"I am ready," Sam disagreed. He stood up and approached his girlfriend. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her head. The two stared at their reflection in the mirror. "I am going to be a father. I realize that. But I'm okay with the fact because I'll be fathering your child. And that, Quinn Fabray, is all I want."

"No. You, Sam Evans, are _insane_," Quinn giggled.

Sam placed his large hands on Quinn's stomach and kissed her hair. "That's my baby in there. He's gonna have blond hair like the two of us, and he'll have green eyes and the most amazing laugh just like you."

"You're too young," Quinn murmured. "_We're_ too young."

"We can do this. Together."

Again, Quinn looked at their reflection. Her eyes traced the perfect face of her somewhat dorky boyfriend, his wide mouth kissing her head again. She wondered how she'd fallen so hard for an underclassman. She loved him, though, and they were going to get married after the birth of their beautiful baby. And though Quinn didn't particularly like when Sam did goofy impersonations or tried to speak Na'vi, she loved his kind nature and sensitivity toward her needs, and his total support. He was hers forever.

* * *

Rachel walked along McKinley's High's running track. It snaked a perfect oval around the gargantuan field on which the Titans and the Cheerios practiced almost daily. Rachel had her hands in the pockets of her pink hoodie, since there was a slight breeze outside and she didn't want to be cold. Although she was wearing a skirt, she'd gotten used to the chill on her legs because she also had the protection of her knee-high socks.

After a short time, she saw Puck sitting on the bleachers. Rachel sighed and climbed up, lowering herself onto the bench in front of him. Without turning to look at him, she muttered, "I'm sorry."

"Why are _you_ sorry, Berry?" Puck asked quietly. "I'm the one who got you drunk."

"I should have talked the girls out of doing this pact. I wasn't planning to abort the baby," Rachel murmured, "but the thought of giving it up for adoption crossed my mind more than once. Now that we've got this pact, I have to keep it."

"Who says you gotta keep it?" Puck sat up straight. "Screw them. They don't know what they're getting themselves into."

Rachel twisted around to face him. "_You _knew what you were getting _your_self into when you decided to have unprotected sex with a drunken version of myself, but you went along with it, anyway."

Puck's eyes narrowed. "What's your point, Berry?"

"My point," Rachel breathed, "is that the others may not know what they're getting themselves into, but even if they did, they would probably still go along with the pact because it seemed like a good idea at the time. A promise is a promise. This may be the stupidest decision ever, but they wanted to do it, and I agreed to it. I'm going to keep this baby because I don't want to let my friends down."

"So you're telling me that even if your stupid friends weren't so stupid, they'd still do the pact because it seemed fun?" Puck clarified.

"Right."

Puck leaned toward Rachel, resting his elbows on his knees and folding his hands together. "You'll let me help with the kid, right?"

Rachel blinked.

"I wanted to be a good father to Beth. I really did." Puck bowed his head slightly. "But Quinn didn't want her so I never got a chance."

Rachel placed her hand on top of Puck's. "It's not that Quinn didn't want to keep Beth. She just couldn't afford to give up everything motherhood forced her to let go of."

"I know," Puck sighed, "but it's just hard to think of the fact that I never even got to tell my daughter I love her." He looked into Rachel's eyes. "And that's why I want to help out with our kid. I wanna be the opposite of my deadbeat dad, and I can't do that if I don't even get a chance. This is my second kid, and I don't want to have to wait around for a third to just get a shot at fatherhood." Puck moved his hands so that he was holding one of Rachel's diminutive ones between both of his. "This is what I want more than anything, Rachel. Please."

Rachel smiled. "You called me Rachel."

"Oh, yeah. I did, didn't I?"

"I would love for you to help out with our child," she told him. "But if it's not too much trouble, could we give him both of our last names? You know, like, Berry-Puckerman?"

Puck grinned. "Badass." He moved down a bleacher to sit next to Rachel. "Now I gotta ask you somethin'. Since we're gonna be raising this kid, do you wanna, like, get together? As a couple, I mean. We can be . . . uh . . ." Puck snapped his fingers, trying to remember the name he wanted. "What's that nickname Hummel came up with last year and the whole school started calling us when we went out?"

Rachel beamed. "Puckleberry!"

"Yeah, that." Puck smirked. "It's a gay name, but a badass couple of good-looking Jews."

"Sure, Noah. We can be a couple."

"Sweet," Puck howled, standing up and pulling Rachel with him. "Now come on, my hot little Jewish-American princess. Let's go back to my place."

Rachel's eyes widened. "We're not having sex."

"No. We're just gonna hang out," Puck assured her. He led her to his car and they rode in silence to Puck's house. But it wasn't an awkward silence. They were perfectly comfortable with each other's presence.

Once they got to the Puckerman residence, they did exactly what Puck had promised: they just hung out. Puck tried to teach Rachel how to play _Call of Duty: Black Ops_ on his Xbox 360, but Rachel failed miserably every time, resulting in a fit of giggles and another lesson on which buttons to press. Then Rachel sang a few songs as Puck played the guitar to back her up. Afterward, they went to the kitchen and Puck dared Rachel to try a mixture of things Puck had found in the refrigerator and piled onto a slice of bread, and finally topped with another slice.

"I see a pickle, mayonnaise, leftover macaroni, tomatoes, and some other unknown substances." Rachel grimaced, looking up at Puck. "I'm not too sure about eating this."

"Just try it." Puck smirked. "I call it the Badassinator."

Rachel tried to refrain from laughing, but she couldn't. She took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut, and bit off a piece of the sandwich. She chewed slowly, keeping her eyes closed. After she swallowed, her face contorted and she tossed the sandwich onto the counter.

Puck raised his eyebrows in anticipation. "How was it?"

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Rachel grumbled, clutching at her shirt. Then her torso jerked and one of her hands flew to her mouth, and she made a beeline for the bathroom. Puck watched in horror, his eyes wide. He glanced at the Badassinator once before throwing it into the garbage and out of sight.

Moments later, Rachel returned, her face a sickly pale and her hair all a mess. She looked at her boyfriend with glassy eyes.

"Sorry about that," she muttered.

Puck shook his head, smiling slightly. "Don't be sorry," he chuckled.

Rachel frowned. "You think this is funny?"

"No." Puck cleared his throat, wiping the smile off of his face. "No, not at all."

Rachel exhaled heavily and crossed the tile floor, wrapping her arms around Puck's waist and resting her head on his chest. Puck hugged her back willingly. Although Rachel always wanted this feeling with Finn, she felt so special when with Puck. They were both good-looking Jews, as Puck always reminded her, but Rachel felt an out of the ordinary connection that she always wanted to experience with Finn but only knew with Puck. She liked it. And that's how she knew she loved Noah Puckerman truly.


	4. Chapter 4

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**I updated three times today to make up for the huge gap between chapters one and two. This will be the last update of the day. :)**

**This chapter includes lots of Puckleberry, some Furt brother-ness, and Fuinn friendship. Stuff I adore. :D**

**I don't own Glee. Should be obvious by now.**

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"My mom kicked me out of the house," Quinn said sadly, bowing her head. Rachel frowned and felt total sympathy for her friend.

"What did she say when she kicked you out?" Rachel asked.

Quinn sighed as the two started to walk down the hall. "She called me a disgrace to the Fabray name. Then she told me that she was willing to help me with the baby when I got pregnant once, but I 'should have learned from that experience and known not to do it again.' She told me to get out of her sight and to pack my stuff and leave as soon as I get home from school today. As I was leaving for school, she asked who the father was. I told her it was a sophomore named Sam Evans, and I got yelled at for taking advantage of a boy younger than me."

"She jumped to conclusions at that last part." Rachel shook her head. "I'm really sorry, Quinn. You can stay at my house."

Quinn forced a smile at the shorter girl. "Your dads already have one pregnant teenager to deal with," she giggled. "They don't need another one. I'll just stay at Sam's house."

"All right, then," Rachel sighed. She hugged her books to her chest. "Well, I've got to get to class. I'm on a streak of being the first one in the classroom every day. Good luck with everything." She smiled before taking off down the hall.

Quinn shuffled across the white tile floor of the corridor, searching for Sam. They had a good five minutes before the bell rang. That was enough time for Quinn to explain everything to Sam and work out arrangements for her to stay at his house. Finally, she found him at his locker. She took a deep breath and approached him with a weak smile.

"Hey, Q." Sam grinned. "What's up?"

"My mom kicked me out of the house," Quinn said blatantly. "She's forcing me to pack up and leave right after school. I was wondering if I could stay at your house."

Sam's smile faded instantly. "I really wish I could say yes," he mumbled, "but my parents are kinda pissed about the fact I got you pregnant and they aren't sure if it was my fault or yours." He grabbed his books and closed his locker. "Right now, they're dead-set on the fact that it was you who forced me into it, no matter how much I try to convince them that it was a mutual decision. They're not too enthusiastic about our relationship right now."

"Oh." Quinn's face fell. "That's okay. I guess I'll just, uh, find somewhere else to go." She turned on her heel and started to walk away, feeling tears well in her eyes.

"Quinn."

She spun around again. "What?"

"I love you," Sam told her.

She nodded. "I know. I love you, too."

* * *

"You're a stalker, Finn."

Finn rolled his eyes. He and Kurt were in the middle of their math class, and Finn had just informed Kurt that he heard Quinn needed somewhere to go. They boys were stealthy as they whispered replies to each other. Their ancient teacher Mr. Baker didn't suspect a thing.

"I'm not a stalker," Finn assured his stepbrother. "I heard Rachel and Quinn talking in the hall, and Quinn needs a place to stay. I say we invite her to stay at our house."

"So which one were you stalking?" Kurt leaned back in his chair. "Rachel or Quinn?"

"Neither!" Finn let out an exasperated sigh. "Kurt, I need you to help me convince my mom and Burt to let Quinn crash at our place. My mom was super pissed when I told her Beth was actually Puck's. It's not gonna be easy, and that's why I need your help." He paused as Mr. Baker turned around to face the class, but continued speaking when the teacher returned his attention to the chalkboard. "You're really good at convincing people to do stuff."

Kurt shrugged. "Yeah, true. I'm an awesome brother, aren't I?"

"Don't milk it, dude."

"What if I say you're an awesome brother, too?"

"Am I?"

"Yes, Finn, you are."

"Cool! You're awesome, too!" Finn smiled. He then cocked an eyebrow. "So you'll help me?"

"Fine." Kurt gritted his teeth. "This whole pact is such a stupid idea, but I'm not gonna leave someone as sweet as Quinn homeless."

"Awesome!"

When the class was dismissed, Finn desperately scoped the hallway for his ex-girlfriend. He found her walking slowly, a gloomy expression playing at her features. He exhaled dreamily at her beauty, and then he remembered that they couldn't be together. Quinn was dating Sam and now Finn had a baby with Santana on the way. He shook his head and approached Quinn hastily.

"Hi, Finn."

Finn stared at the sparkle dancing in Quinn's green eyes. "Hey. So, uh, me and Kurt were talking, and he's currently in the bathroom on the phone with my mom. He's trying to convince her to let you stay at our house."

"That's . . . very sweet of you," Quinn said, "but your mom really dislikes me now."

"And that's why I'm making Kurt convince her." Finn smiled lopsidedly. "I want you to be safe, Quinn. You can't be safe if you don't have a home."

"That's true."

Finn offered to walk Quinn to class. As they walked, Quinn explained what her mother said to her that morning and what Sam had told her about his parents' dislike of her. Finn concluded that everybody was making assumptions about her. When they got to Quinn's class, Finn wondered what the best way to say goodbye was. He wasn't going to be lame and just wave, but he didn't want to shake her hand, either. He certainly wasn't going to kiss her. So he settled on a hug. He leaned down and wound an arm around her quickly. She beamed before entering her class. As Finn went back down the hall, he saw Sam standing by his locker, frowning. Finn pretended he didn't see him.

* * *

"I really hope that the baby is a girl; I've always wanted a daughter, but whatever the gender, he or she deserves a one hundred percent Jewish name because it has two Jewish parents." Rachel continued to ramble on as she walked swiftly through the hallway. Puck was following her like a puppy, trying to keep up with what she was saying and sometimes struggling to give his input on the subject, but Rachel just kept talking.

"Rach—" Puck was cut off again by Rachel explaining that her dad's home office would be turned into a nursery. That led her to start babbling about the colors she wanted to decorate the room. It all depended on the gender, according to her. Puck sighed. It was the end of the school day, and now he'd be going to Rachel's house to have a discussion with her and her dads. He had no clue what the discussion would be about, and he wasn't particularly excited about it, either.

Puck drove to Rachel's house, listening to her chatter on and on the whole way there. Again, he continuously tried to say something, but Rachel never stopped cutting him off mid-sentence. He pulled into the driveway of the Berry household. Suddenly, almost miraculously, Rachel's babbling came to a halt. Puck exhaled dramatically. Rachel asked what was wrong, and he just shook his head, shrugging.

"You seem rather quiet today, Noah," Rachel detected as she and her boyfriend approached the front door.

Puck shrugged. "Don't have much to say."

The teens were immediately greeted by Rachel's tall, broad-shouldered African-American father, who Puck remembered was named Leroy. Leroy shook Puck's hand and led the young couple to the family dining room. Rachel's other dad Hiram—who was shorter than Leroy and was very pale with thick-framed glasses—sat at the end of the long mahogany table. Leroy sat at the opposite end. Rachel and Puck sat next to each other toward the middle of the table.

"Good afternoon, Noah," Hiram greeted Puck. "In case you don't remember us, my name is Hiram, and that is Leroy."

Puck shrugged. "Nah, it's cool. I remember you."

Hiram and Leroy glanced at each other. Rachel bowed her head. Puck already wasn't making a good impression with his weak vocabulary.

"Rachel is four weeks pregnant now," Leroy informed Puck. "We're not too happy about the fact she's having a baby at seventeen years old, but she doesn't want to abort it, and adoption doesn't seem to be an option in her eyes, either."

Rachel and Puck glanced at each other.

"Rachel told us just last night that you're willing to take responsibility for the child. That's very dignified of you, Noah. I'm glad you're not going to leave Rachel to deal with this alone," Hiram said.

"Being there for your child means you're going to have to come over here any time Rachel needs you," Leroy chimed in, "and you might even need to spend the night in the guest room. On some certain nights, you'll need to bring the baby to your house and keep him there for the night."

"You two aren't going to be living together until you can get money to pay for your own house. Rachel isn't living anywhere else but here." Hiram stared at Puck. "You aren't allowed to live here until the day your mother kicks you out of your own house, and if that hasn't happened already, I would assume it isn't going to happen at all."

"My mom's pretty cool with the situation. She wasn't too pissed at me." Puck stopped himself when he saw Hiram's eyes widen and Leroy's eyebrows rise. What kind of parent was _cool_ with a situation like this? "Uh, I mean, she wasn't _okay _with it. She just didn't, like, yell at me and shit."

Rachel nudged Puck's arm. "_Language_," she scolded under her breath.

"Right. Sorry." Puck cleared his throat. "Excuse my language, Mr. and Mrs. Berry."

"_Mrs._ Berry?" Leroy clarified.

Puck thought about what he'd just said. "Oh, shit. I mean, _shoot_!" he exclaimed. Hiram drummed his fingers on the tabletop, keeping a suspicious eye on Puck, who was beginning to sweat. He took a deep breath. "Uh, sorry. I meant Mr. and . . . Mr."

Leroy found Puck's sudden nervousness humorous. Hiram, on the other hand, thought this kid was a total dud. Rachel blushed, bowing her head.

"I'm sorry. I'm just . . . really nervous right now," Puck breathed.

"I have a question for you, Noah." Hiram folded his arms across his chest. "You have a baby by a different girl – Quinn Fabray, correct?"

Puck nodded. "Yeah."

"Have you ever heard of the word 'contraception'?" Hiram asked. "More specifically, do you know what in the world a condom is used for?"

"Uh, yeah, I do."

Hiram's brow furrowed. "Why, then, didn't you use one when with Rachel or Quinn?"

"I dunno," Puck answered honestly. "I wasn't thinking."

"Rachel told us once that you hook up with several girls," Leroy piped up. "Do you ever use a condom? Because it seems to me that you're a bit of a player."

"No, Dad. He _was_ a player," Rachel corrected. "He's grown up now, and he's devoted to me."

"Yeah," Puck agreed. "I love your daughter. And yes, I do use condoms most of the time, especially since I got Quinn pregnant. But when I was with Rachel, I didn't have one with me and I just wasn't thinking before I got took advantage of her. I'm really sorry, even though I can't make up for it because she's pregnant now."

"I'm glad you're apologizing," Hiram breathed, "but this can't be undone. You're going to be taking responsibility for your actions, Noah."

"I know."

"We're glad you came today," Leroy said, standing up. "It was a big help getting to know you a bit better."

Puck nodded as he, Rachel, and Hiram got to their feet as well. "Yeah. Cool."

Rachel's dads bid Puck goodbye and Rachel walked her boyfriend to the door. Puck leaned against the doorframe and shoved his face in his hands, wiping away the beads of sweat on the back of his neck. He was mortified.

"Are you all right, Noah?" Rachel asked.

Puck stared at her. "That was awful," he muttered. "They probably hate me."

"No, they don't. They like the fact that you love me and aren't going to cheat on me," Rachel assured him. "So just . . . don't cheat on me, help me with the baby, and they'll always like you."

"Fine." Puck sighed. "I gotta bounce. See you later, babe." He pecked Rachel on the lips and exited the house, still embarrassed as hell. When he got into his car, he looked in the mirror and saw the slightest hint of red on his cheeks. He was blushing. Noah fucking Puckerman was blushing. He tried his best to refrain from looking in the mirror for the rest of the car ride to his own house, but he couldn't resist. He wanted to make sure he wasn't just imagining things. He couldn't believe he was _blushing_. And he'd never been so nervous as he'd been when talking to Rachel's dads. He humiliated himself in front of his girlfriend and he didn't like it. He wanted to be the tougher one, to protect her with all of his life. Did that mean he really felt something more special than his own badassness for Rachel?

Maybe she was _the one_.

Maybe he had found his first true love.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it took me so long to update! I've been busy lately. :\ This chapter is short, too. Oh, well. I tried my best! :D Enjoy!**

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**Quinn was sitting on Kurt's bed, downing a tub of chocolate ice cream as she watched Kurt kneel down on the floor. He was searching through a stack of CDs to listen to. Quinn had sent Finn upstairs to get her a glass of milk. She really didn't want milk, but she was getting sick of watching Finn play Xbox, so when Finn left the basement bedroom, Kurt had unplugged the Xbox and was now going to put on music he and Quinn liked.

Moments later, Kurt popped a disc into the CD player and put the other CDs back in their rightful place. He sat down on the bed next to Quinn with one of his favorite fashion magazines as the show tune blasted from the speakers of the CD player. Quinn looked at Kurt's magazine with him, shoveling a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

Finn trotted down the staircase with the glass of milk Quinn had requested in his hand. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and his brow puckered. He watched as his ex-girlfriend and his stepbrother looked up at him in perfect synchronization, smiling as if they'd rehearsed it.

"Why the hell did you turn off my game?" Finn asked, slowly handing the milk to Quinn. His eyes were locked on the CD player.

"We got tired of watching you play. We wanted to listen to music," Kurt explained. He flipped the page in his magazine. "Is that a problem?"

"Uh, yeah, Kurt, it is a problem." Finn knelt down in front of his Xbox, trying to plug it back into the television, but he couldn't seem to get it right. He groaned, throwing the cords to the floor in frustration. "I was about to beat my own high score and now it's lost. I'll have to do it all over again."

"You can do it some other day." Kurt handed his magazine over to Quinn and stood up, walking toward the CD player. He removed the CD—which hadn't even played through a full song yet—and put it back in its case. Quinn watched him wonderingly, slowly sipping at the milk she didn't want. Kurt shrugged at Quinn. "I just remembered that I'm supposed to meet up with Blaine at Dalton. I totally forgot until now." He shrugged on his coat and started for the staircase. "You two kids have fun. And take it easy, Finn; she's already pregnant with a baby that's not yours."

"Been there, done that," Finn muttered softly under his breath, getting to his feet. He thought Quinn couldn't hear him, but she could. She only pretended that she couldn't.

"Don't try anything stupid, Hudson. Just because I'm not allowed to stay at Sam's place doesn't mean he and I aren't still together," Quinn murmured. She looked up at Finn teasingly, who smiled lopsidedly back at her.

"Wasn't planning on it," Finn assured her. "I'm afraid Sam's gonna eat me with his big-ass mouth."

Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Does he even know you're staying here?" Finn asked.

Quinn shook her head. "No, not yet. But I'm going to tell him."

"Does _anyone _know you're staying here?"

"Yeah, Rachel does. She texted me in a panic after finding out Sam wouldn't let me stay at his house," Quinn explained. She faded out slowly, deeply absorbed in her reading. Finn went to sit down next to her. He noticed that Kurt had unplugged the TV from the wall completely. He figured he wouldn't be able to figure out how to plug it back in. He exhaled heavily, tapping his foot and drumming his fingers on the arm of the sofa in a drumbeat he'd made up on the spot. After a moment or two, he turned to look at Quinn. She felt his gaze on her and looked up.

Just as Finn was about to break the sudden awkward silence, Quinn's phone buzzed. She picked it up and read the caller ID aloud. "Sam," she breathed before pressing the phone to her ear. "Hey, Sam. What's up?"

"_I just wanted to check up on you," _Finn heard Sam say through the phone. _"Did you find a place to stay yet?"_

"Yeah." Quinn swallowed hard, closing her eyes briefly. She had to tell Sam she was staying with Finn and Kurt. But she knew her boyfriend well, and she figured he might overreact and jump to the conclusion that Quinn was choosing Finn over him. Before she could stop herself, Quinn, her eyes still shut tightly, did the thing she did best: she lied. "I, uh — I'm living at Rachel's. Her dads offered."

Finn's eyes widened, and Quinn's lids fluttered open. She looked to him and shrugged, pressing a finger to her lips to signal Finn to stay quiet.

"_That's awesome," _Sam commented. _"Good to know you're safe. I'm, uh, really sorry about the whole thing with my parents. I would have loved to have you living with me. I really wanted to watch the baby grow over the next nine months."_

"It's okay, Sam. The baby and I will be fine here at Rachel's. Her dads are very loving," Quinn said in a hushed tone, "and they said it was their pleasure having me here." She bit her bottom lip. "I understand that your parents don't like me and that's fine; it's probably hard for them to be okay with their son dating a girl that's older than him."

Finn listened intently as Sam sighed agitatedly on the other line. _"They think I'm so innocent. They would never guess that I'd agree to something like this pact or that I'd ever hook up with an older girl," _Sam explained, annoyed. _"They never wanna see me grow up 'cause I'm an only child and I'm pretty much the only thing keeping them from divorcing at this point."_

"I'm sorry about that," Quinn told her boyfriend sincerely. "Having divorced parents is hard. But I know what you mean. My older sister Frannie is so perfect. She lived up to my parents' expectations and now I'm expected to do the same."

"_Well, we shouldn't just sit here feeling sorry for each other. I'm just glad you're safe. And I at least don't have you worry about you cheating on me with Rachel." _Sam chuckled through the phone. Quinn forced herself to laugh as she glanced at Finn guiltily, who just shrugged. _"I guess I'll go. Have a good night, Quinn. I love you."_

"I love you, too, Sam. Night." Quinn quickly hung up and exhaled heavily. She couldn't believe she'd just lied to Sam. Of course, it wasn't the first time, but how would he react when he found out Quinn _wasn't_ staying at Rachel's house? And especially when he saw that she was at Finn's house instead? She put her phone down on the shelf across the room so she wouldn't be tempted to look at it for a while. She sat back down next to Finn and looked at him, guilt flooding her green eyes.

"You could have told him the truth," Finn mumbled.

"I know, Finn. You don't need to tell me."

The tall boy chuckled dryly. "He's gonna be pissed at you, you know," he told Quinn. "Once he finds out you totally made up the whole thing about Rachel's house, you're gonna be in the doghouse. All I've gotta say is good luck."

Quinn sighed heavily. She shoved her face in her hands, wondering what she was going to do. If Sam found out about her living with Finn, he might think she was cheating on him. Then he might break up with her and Quinn would be left to raise their baby alone. Suddenly, her head snapped up and she looked at Finn, her face lighting up.

"I have an idea," she told him breathlessly. Finn sat up straight, listening intently.

* * *

Rachel was at her house with Tina. The Asian girl was doing her friend's nails and the two were discussing what they'd like to name their babies. They shot out each other's choices and made up new suggestions for one another.

"I want a Jewish name," Rachel said. "If it's a girl, I was thinking Eden."

Tina shook her head. "That sounds like an old lady name. Eden Berry-Puckerman? Yuck. How about Maya? That's Jewish and it goes with Berry-Puckerman."

"I don't like it." Rachel sighed. "Oh, well. I'll keep thinking. I don't want to think about boy names because I want a daughter, not a son."

Tina chuckled. "Just because you think of girl names doesn't mean you won't have a boy," she reminded the shorter girl. "What if you _do _end up with a son? He'll go through his life with a girl name."

Rachel shrugged. "I'll deal with it when the time comes. What have you been thinking about for names?"

"Emily if she's a girl and Gregory if he's a boy," Tina answered automatically.

"I like Gregory, but Emily?" Rachel clarified as she stared down at the hot pink polish being brushed along her nails. "Are you using your last name or Mike's?"

"Mike's is shorter and I'm confident we'll stay together, so we're using his. What's wrong with Emily?"

"I don't think it fits a little Asian girl." Rachel's face lit up. "But Evelyn does! Evelyn Chang. How cute is that?"

Tina smiled. "Yeah, I like that," she said. "I hope he's a boy, though. Can't you picture a little tiny Asian boy named Gregory dancing around just like Mike?"

"As long as I get to call him Greggy, I'm happy." The two girls laughed together. Suddenly, Rachel's phone started ringing. She used her free hand, the one with the nails Tina had just painted, to pick up the phone. Being careful not to get polish on the phone and keep her other hand still so Tina wouldn't mess up, she pressed the green button on her phone and said into the speaker, "Hello?"

"_Hi, Rachel," _the caller greeted.

Rachel's brow furrowed. "Sam? Why are you calling me?"

"_I just wanted to see if Quinn was okay. I talked to her a few hours ago, but, you know, being her boyfriend, I'm just worried about her." _Both Rachel and Tina were confused by what Sam was saying on the other line. _"I'm especially worried because she's not answering her phone, so that's why I called you."_

"Sam, I have no clue what you're talking about," Rachel replied honestly.

Sam hesitated a moment. _"Isn't Quinn staying at your house?"_

Rachel was totally confused. "What? No. She's living with Finn and Kurt," she told Sam.

"_She's staying with Finn?" _Sam yelled so loudly that it hurt Rachel's ear and Tina leaned backward because of the excessive volume.

"And Kurt."

"_She lied to me," _Sam growled. _"She told me she was staying with you! Why would she say that? She told me your dads said it was a pleasure having her there and everything." _The boy sighed in aggravation. _"I don't understand why she'd lie to me."_

Rachel shrugged, though she knew Sam couldn't see her. "Maybe she was worried about your reaction might be."

"_I gotta go. Thanks, Rachel. See you."_

"Goodbye, Sam." Rachel hung up her phone. She stared down at it and blinked several times. Then she narrowed her eyes and looked upward, meeting Tina's wide-eyed gaze. "Tina?"

"Yes?" Tina asked quietly.

"I am _confused_."

"You're not the only one, sister."

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**What did you think? :) It's short, I know. I'll do better next time! :D**

**I already know the genders and names of all of the girls' babies, but just out of curiosity, who would you like to see have twins out of the six girls? I've already chosen who it's going to be, though. :)**

**Next Chapter****:**** Sam confronts Quinn about her lie; Quinn and Finn put Quinn's plan to the test and we get to see if Sam is dumb enough to fall for it; Puck thinks of a "badass" name for he and Rachel's baby.**

**R&R! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**UPDATING FAIL. Sorry, guys. All of my files for this story got deleted off my computer, so I had to rewrite most of the future chapters I already had written, this being one of them. It was kind of difficult to remember what I wrote and which element came next. It pretty much sucked. But I got this one done, so I'm (somewhat) relieved!**

**Disclaimer: You all know I don't own Glee.**

**Review! Kthanksbye!**

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Sam Evans was not happy.

In fact, he was pissed.

It seemed stupid to be so upset about something like this, but he didn't care. His girlfriend had lied to him. Blatantly. Without even thinking about how it might turn out. Sam stormed down the McKinley High hallway, ready to confront Quinn. He had a speech prepared in his head and was ready to explode. He planned on speaking his mind fully, and he truly didn't care who would be watching what was happening. Finally, he saw Quinn at the end of the hall, walking toward her classroom. She wasn't paying attention so she couldn't see Sam. The blond boy took a deep breath and stomped toward her, at once forgetting the dialogue he'd prepared.

"Why didn't you tell me you're living with Finn?" he demanded.

Quinn looked up, her eyes widening as she swallowed. "Kurt made arrangements—"

"You're probably sharing a bed with him!"

"Whoa." Quinn blinked. "Now you're just jumping to conclusions. Finn offered me a place to stay and I accepted because I had nowhere else to go after you bailed on me!"

"You know that wasn't my fault. I would have willingly let you stay with me if my parents didn't have a problem with you and me being together," Sam growled. "Why couldn't you stay with any of the other girls in Glee?"

"I didn't want to add further disorder to the already-crazy homes of pregnant teenagers," Quinn said defensively. "I'm _sure _the houses of the others are all tense because their parents have to deal with something like this so suddenly. It's hard for them. I didn't want to have to be a burden and add to it all."

"You still could have told me the truth. Or at least checked with me to make sure I thought it would be okay."

Quinn narrowed her eyes. Sam wasn't the boss of her. He wasn't her father. She didn't have to confront him about every single decision before she made up her mind. She was her own person and she could decide what she wanted to do. She didn't need anyone to give her permission, let alone her boyfriend, who was a year younger than she.

"I had no other choice," Quinn said through clenched teeth. "I'd be living on the streets if I didn't accept Finn's offer. Then I wouldn't have been able to take care of myself or this baby and the two of us would die and you know it."

Sam shook his head. "I still can't believe you'd lie to me."

"I'm sorry," Quinn breathed, tears welling in her eyes.

"I thought you and I told each other everything. Who knows what else you've lied about? It's hard for me to trust you now." Sam turned and started walking away slowly.

"So, that's it, then?" Quinn called after him.

Sam stopped walking. He didn't know what he wanted to do. If he broke up with Quinn right now, he wouldn't have to worry about her lying to him anymore because she wouldn't belong to him. But then he'd feel like he was betraying their child. He wanted to help take care of the kid and that would be hard if he and Quinn weren't together. He could manage it, though. It might be easier to forgive and forget right now. He could turn around, apologize for freaking out, and he could go on as Quinn's boyfriend and they could get married in the future, taking care of their baby together. On the other hand, he could end all the fights and heartbreak right now by telling her it was over. He closed his eyes briefly before turning around to face her. His weary blue eyes bore into Quinn's tear-filled green ones.

"Yeah," he croaked out uneasily. "That's it. We're over."

"What about the baby?" Quinn whispered. Her voice was barely loud enough for Sam to hear. Her free hand moved to her stomach as her tears started to fall.

"I'm still its dad. I'm gonna help take care of it." He began backing away. "But you and I won't be together when it's born." Then he turned and went toward his classroom.

It took every last bit of his strength not to spin on his heel and sprint toward Quinn, pulling her into his arms and muttering several apologies in her ear.

Most of all, it literally _hurt _him trying not to cry.

* * *

"What do you mean, 'that name is awful'?"

"It means exactly what it sounds like, Noah. That name is awful."

Puck shook his head, rolling his eyes. Although Rachel hated sparking a conversation while the teacher was giving a lesson, she was appalled at the name her boyfriend had just pitched to her during their English class. Mr. Aidan was writing on the whiteboard, and Rachel and Puck sat right next to each other, so they could whisper to each other without the teacher hearing them.

"Yeah, right. As if your name suggestions are any better."

"My name suggestions _are _better," Rachel insisted. "In fact, I have another one in mind."

"It's probably something prissy like Queen Elizabeth or Francesca," Puck mumbled. "That kid is gonna be a total badass, Rachel. Badasses need a badass name."

"_Curse_ is not a badass name! It's not even a name to begin with!" Rachel murmured. "It sounds like a made-up name out of a video game that involves wizards and magical spells and whatnot."

"Fine." Puck thought for a second. "How 'bout Dagger?"

"No."

"Saber?"

"No!"

"Hawk?"

"Noah."

"Axe?"

"_Noah_."

"Talon? Chaos? Reaper? I'm trying! What do you want from me?"

When Rachel didn't answer, Puck wondered what she was doing. She wasn't looking at him. Instead, she stared straight forward, her eyes widened slightly. Then Puck realized he hadn't whispered the last few sentences. And he was in class. He turned his head to see Mr. Aidan standing over him, one eyebrow lifted. Puck bowed his head and heard Mercedes and Kurt giggle quietly across the room.

"Well, Mr. Puckerman, I thought those names were quite interesting," Mr. Aidan commented. "Perhaps they could be the names of the characters in your story."

Puck looked up. "What story?"

"The five-hundred-word fantasy tale that you'll be writing for me in detention after school today." Mr. Aidan handed Puck a detention slip and returned to the front of the class. Puck sighed agitatedly, shoving the pink paper into the pocket of his jeans. He glanced at a blushing Rachel and pretended to be listening to Mr. Aidan as the teacher continued his lecture.

Puck imagined having a child named Curse. In his fantasy, that kid would rule the world. It would take a little convincing, but he was sure he could get Rachel to agree to name their kid Curse Reaper Berry-Puckerman.

* * *

As Sam walked down the hall, he noticed Finn and Quinn standing by each other. Finn's expression was serious, but Sam couldn't see Quinn's face. He maneuvered himself through the throng of students and stood an earshot away from Finn and Quinn.

"Quinn, you can't stay at my house anymore," Finn told the blond girl softly.

Quinn's face fell. "Why not?"

"My mom is still a little on edge about you. Ever since you lied about me being the father of your baby, she's been a little ticked off." Finn glanced at Sam from the corner of his eye, and he moved his attention back to Quinn, nodding subtly.

"But I have nowhere else to go!" Quinn exclaimed. "Can't you talk to your mom about this?"

"I tried," Finn breathed. "Really, I did. She won't give up."

Quinn bowed her head. "Sam broke up with me, Finn. There's no way he's going to help me now."

"Well, I'm not your boyfriend." Finn leaned casually against the lockers. "I know you still really love Sam. And it's not like you and I share a bed or anything, because that would be wrong. You know, since you still love Sam. Yeah."

Sam rolled his eyes, approaching the two. "I'm not _that _stupid," he insisted. "You really think I would fall for that?"

Finn leaned toward Quinn and whispered, "I think he knows."

"Damn right I know, Frankenteen. Quinn, you seriously thought I'd be dumb enough to believe Finn's mom would kick you out of the house because she randomly decided she wasn't cool with it anymore?" Sam asked.

Quinn shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

"Well, it didn't work. And by the way, Finn, you're a _terrible_ actor." Sam walked away from them.

"I'm sorry, Quinn. I guess your plan kinda backfired."

Quinn nodded. "Yeah. It backfired, all right."

"Sam's not worth it," Finn told her. "He doesn't deserve someone as amazing as you."

"Thanks." Quinn smiled. "So are you and Santana, like, a couple now or something?"

"Nope. She's just having my baby, that's all," Finn said. "I'm just gonna help take care of it and stuff. But we're not gonna get married or anything."

"Same for Sam and me."

"Cool."

Then it got awkward. The two looked around with nothing else to say. Finn clapped his hands together, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Well, I'll see you at home, I guess," he said.

"Yeah. Awesome." Quinn turned toward her class. Finn watched her walk away. He was glad she was living with him, honestly. He'd just have to wait for her to somewhat get over Sam before trying to get with her.


	7. Chapter 7

**So I'm gonna kinda go forward in time by a little bit. Two months, to be exact. :)**

**I LOVE this chapter for several reasons:**

**- Rachel finds out the sex of the baby.  
- There's a little Puckleberry fluffiness.  
- Brittana and Faberry friendships bloom.  
- I think I really stayed true to Santana's character (let me know if I didn't; I'm kinda paranoid about that!).  
- We find out something important with one of the girls' pregnancy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. Sadly.**

**As always, please review. Thanks!

* * *

**

**Two Months Later

* * *

**

"Finally!" Santana breathed, lounging on her couch with Brittany by her side. "The morning sickness has subsided, Britt. No more rushing to the bathroom at random times of the day."

Brittany shrugged. "Some foods still make me feel sick when I smell them, though."

"Q says that's normal at eleven weeks," Santana said. She exhaled happily. She was actually excited about this baby. Of course, she and Finn wouldn't get married or whatever to raise it together. But the baby would be a badass, just like its mother. Santana was excited to have a little one that could be hers and only hers—and Finn's, too. She could tell people that _no_, they _couldn't_ hold the baby simply because she was allowed to. It was her child, after all.

This would make up for all those times when she was a little girl and her younger brother Leonardo was born. She was six years old and she continuously asked if she could hold the newest member of the Lopez clan. Her mother always said that she'd like to hold him for just a little while longer, or she'd just flat-out tell her daughter that she was too young to hold a fragile little baby. Santana would pout as she watched older family members—especially her twin brothers Maximiliano and Nicolas, who were three years older than her—pass baby Leonardo around.

Once Santana had a baby of her own, she could cradle it in her arms without anyone telling her that her time to hold it was up. Whenever her mother, her father, Maxi, Nicolas, or even Leo asked to hold it, could tell them that she wanted to hold it for a little longer, and they couldn't complain about it because it would be _Santana's _kid, not theirs.

"What do you think you want to name your baby, San?" Brittany asked suddenly.

"I dunno," Santana replied. "Haven't really thought about that. I'm gonna wait till I know the gender before I start thinking about it. How 'bout you?"

"I can imagine a little Max. A boy named Max that has black hair and glasses like Artie and can dance like me!" Brittany smiled enthusiastically, turning to her best friend. "Oh, can't you picture it, Santana?"

"Uh, yeah, Britt. I can picture it." Santana raised an eyebrow. "You just described my older brother. His name is Max, he has black hair and glasses, and he's the one who taught you how to dance. Remember?"

Brittany cocked her head to the side. "You have a brother?"

"I have _three _brothers," Santana corrected. "You know little Leo. And Maxi and Nicky are the identical twins. You know, the two who look exactly alike. You can never tell them apart when you come to my house."

"Oh!" Brittany nodded. "Yeah, I remember! So I guess I can't name my baby Max, huh?"

"Not unless you expect me never to want to see it because I'd always just be picturing Maxi in my mind."

"Fine, then. Oh! How about Leonardo? Your brother's name is just Leo, right? So it wouldn't be the same!"

Santana sighed. "B, you'll be the death of me. I swear."

* * *

Rachel and Quinn entered Lima General Hospital together. They'd unintentionally scheduled ultrasound appointments with their practitioners back-to-back. Quinn was there to just get a regular ultrasound to make sure things were still running smoothly at eleven weeks. Rachel, on the other hand, being thirteen weeks along, had been told by her primary caregiver at the last ultrasound that her pregnancy was going along exceptionally well. She had been told that it was normal to learn the sex of the baby between fourteen and twenty weeks, but some women could find out at twelve or thirteen weeks. Rachel was excited and wanted to know as soon as possible so she could start seriously working on the baby's nursery and picking a name that _wasn't_ Curse Reaper Berry-Puckerman.

The girls sat next to each other and waited for their respective nurses to come and get them. As Quinn picked up a magazine, Rachel began bouncing her knee in anticipation.

"This is so exciting!" she gushed. "I might be able to find out the gender of my baby!"

Quinn smiled. "It's not likely, Rachel. Don't get your hopes up."

"But I can already feel that it's a girl," Rachel explained. "I just need the nurse to confirm it. I know that I'll be able to know the gender today because I can _feel _it."

"Whatever you say, Rachel."

Soon enough, Rachel's nurse called her into her appointment. Quinn wished the shorter girl luck as Rachel bounded toward the moment she was supposedly going to learn the sex of her baby. Quinn's reading was interrupted when she heard a man and a woman laughing softly across the room. She lifted her eyes to see a young man pressing his ear to his heavily-pregnant wife's baby bump. Quinn smiled slightly. Then she frowned, envying the couple. She'd imagined having that happen with Sam as her baby bump grew more and more. Once she got deeper into the pregnancy, she imagined Sam coming with her to her ultrasound appointment, holding her hand as the two watched how much their baby had grown inside Quinn's stomach since the last time. She sighed and looked back down at the magazine article.

Somehow, her thoughts wandered to Finn. He always seemed to be in a good mood, giving everyone a smile. He seemed to be starting to get _most _of his homework done before it was due, and he even asked Quinn to help him study for upcoming tests now and then. His parents, on the other hand, weren't so positive and upbeat. They were undergoing financial Hell. Between Kurt's Dalton Academy tuition, Quinn's OB/GYN payments, and the electric, heat, and water bills, they were even dipping into Finn's college fund—much to the tall boy's dismay—just so they could get by. Quinn couldn't help but feel bad because if it weren't for this baby, they wouldn't be struggling so much. She offered time and time again to find a part-time job somewhere. Carole always gave Quinn a tired smile and told her that she didn't need to do that because school was enough for a pregnant girl to deal with. Quinn once even offered to find someplace else to stay, which shocked Carole and Burt to the point where they told her she didn't have to leave until the kid turned eighteen. Quinn knew they just meant she could stay there for as long as it took her to get her own place.

Finally, she somehow managed to get back to her reading, keeping her thoughts focused on the wording written across the page.

A short while later, Rachel scurried into the waiting room, coming to a halt right in front of where Quinn was sitting. The blond looked up, noticed the ear-to-ear grin on Rachel's face, closed her magazine, and smiled as she waited for Rachel to tell her the news.

After a few short, silent moments, Rachel blurted enthusiastically, "I was wrong!"

"About what?" Quinn asked, though she was sure she knew what Rachel meant.

"It's not a Wendla; it's a Melchior!" Rachel exclaimed.

Quinn looked at Rachel like she had two heads.

Rachel frowned. "It's not a Tzeitel; it's a Tevye," she said, a little less fervor in her voice.

Again, Quinn stayed silent.

"Are you kidding me?" Rachel cried. "Honestly, Quinn, I thought you'd be a little more familiar with such groundbreaking Broadway show characters!" She sighed. "It's not a girl; it's a boy!"

"Oh! Well, why didn't you just say so?" Quinn pulled Rachel in for a hug. "Congrats, Rachel!"

"Although my assumption was wrong," Rachel said, pulling away from the embrace, "I'm still glad that I get to have a son!"

Quinn nodded, smiling. "Good for you."

Soon afterward, Quinn was called in for her appointment. Rachel was so excited that she couldn't even sit down. Quickly, she pulled out her cell phone and, as she paced across the grayish white carpet of the waiting room, sent the same exact text message to both of her fathers, Tina, Mercedes, Kurt, Santana, Sam, and figured that Finn would find out from Quinn, Brittany would hear from Santana, and Kurt would surely tell Blaine. Rachel punched in the words _It's a boy! _She pressed "send" happily, seeing that the message had been delivered to each and every one of the recipients.

Finally, she was able to sit down as she waited for all of their replies. Less than a minute later, Mercedes and Tina both sent her the same message: _Congratulations, girl!_ Moments afterward, Kurt's response was _That's great, Rachel! All the best from Blaine and me. _Her dads texted back saying how excited they were to see her and congratulate her in person. Sam responded _Very cool, Rach! Tell Puckerman I said congrats. P.S. Name him Sam. _The message was followed by a winking emoticon, which made Rachel giggle. Santana replied with a "nice one, Berry," followed by a smiley face. Now there was just one person Rachel was excited to tell. She scrolled through her contacts until she found the desired number. She pressed the phone to her ear and it only rang once before Puck answered.

"What's up?" he asked automatically.

"We're not naming him Curse Reaper," Rachel insisted. "Like I said, it sounds like the name of a video game character. I was thinking about something along the lines of Jonah or Levi. Perhaps even Zachary."

Puck was silent for a few seconds. "I thought you were only thinking of girl names, though."

"Well, we don't want our son to grow up with a girl name, do we?" Rachel grinned, and she knew that Puck could sense her smile. She knew this only because she could tell he was smiling, too.

"It's—is it—" Puck hesitated. "We're having a boy?"

"We are."

Puck laughed on the other line. "We're having a boy!"

"Yes, we're having a boy!" Rachel exclaimed, and she could feel tears welling in her eyes. She knew Puck always put up a bad-boy persona, but he was, to her, the sweetest guy ever on the inside. Hearing Puck's exasperated breaths on the other end of the phone call, laughing slightly, mumbling to himself that he was going to have a son, Rachel couldn't help but start to really cry, wondering how she ever ended up with him and how she managed to bring out the best in him always.

"I need to tell you something, too," Puck said. "I'll wait till you get home. Right now, you need to let me catch my breath before I have a heart attack."

Rachel laughed. "Okay. Bye, Noah."

"See you, Rach."

When Rachel hung up the phone, Quinn approached her. Her eyes were glassy, staring blankly forward. With a small gulp, her green irises searched around until they found Rachel. She didn't seem like herself. She wasn't happy. She looked frightened. Genuinely afraid.

Rachel was concerned. "Quinn, what's wrong?"

"There's two," Quinn whispered.

"Two what?" Rachel asked.

"Babies. Two babies. I'm having twins."

Rachel's jaw dropped. She tried to say something, but she couldn't think of what to say. Instead, she hugged Quinn, rubbing the taller girl's back sympathetically. She knew Quinn was scared; who _wouldn't _be scared having twins at seventeen years old, especially if the father wasn't committed? Rachel closed her eyes, desperately trying to change that sympathy to empathy, but she couldn't put herself in Quinn's shoes.

"I can't do it," Quinn murmured. "Without Sam, I can't."

"Sam will be there for you. You may not be together but he promised to be there for you."

Quinn shook her head. "It's not the same." Her face twisted up into a grimace, and Rachel knew she was about to cry. She insisted that they go home before Quinn broke down in front of everyone in the room. Once they got in the car, Quinn started sobbing. And Rachel stayed silent, allowing Quinn to let it all out.

All of her happiness alleviated in a moment's time. If her friend wasn't happy, then neither was she.


	8. Chapter 8

**Before the chapter, I'd like to start off by saying something.**

**I already explained the reason for my lack of updates; my computer deleted all of my WITGSAP files on my computer. I've been working really hard to get them all back, and I apologize for all the waiting, but you have to realize that I'm trying very hard to get all the files back and finish the story. I do have a life, too, you know. Although Glee and writing are two very big parts of my life, I have friends, I babysit every day, and I go to school, too. Therefore, I have homework almost every day. Again, I'm sorry if you're upset with the slow updates, but you certainly wouldn't want to be ridiculed and bombarded with nasty comments just because you couldn't update a story every day.**

**My crankiness aside, I happen to like this chapter a lot. :)**

**And there's a reference from one of my favorite somewhat unknown musicals, Once Upon A Mattress! If you catch it, you're a very amazing person for knowing the musical as well as I do (my school just did it back in March and I was part of the crew). I FREAKING LOVE IT. And Matthew Morrison is in the movie version, by the way. Just saying.**

**He had a 'fro.**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Rachel dropped Quinn off at the Hudson-Hummel residence, watching as the blond entered the house slowly, her head bowed. Rachel could only shake her head, sympathetic for her friend. She couldn't even imagine having to raise two babies at seventeen years old. Perhaps Quinn would back out of the pact and give the babies up for adoption. If she decided to do so, Rachel wouldn't blame her. She would be just as upset and scared as Quinn was if she learned she was having twins.

When Rachel pulled into her driveway, she remembered that Puck needed to tell her something. She noticed that her dads weren't home, despite the fact that they'd told her they wanted to congratulate her in person when she returned to the house. Rachel went up to her room and dialed Puck's number on her cell phone. He picked up almost instantly.

"I'm better now," he said, not even bothering to greet her. "I can breathe."

"Well, hello to you, too," Rachel teased. "And that's good. It's good to know you didn't have a stroke."

"Yeah. So, listen. I've been thinking lately, and I realized something," Puck said. "You're special to me, Rach. You're obviously not the first girl I've ever had sex with—or the first one I've knocked up—but it doesn't matter. I still feel really good whenever I'm with you. It's a weird feeling. It feels like my stomach is twisting into knots. But Puckzilla never gets nervous, so the fact that _you_ make me nervous has opened my eyes to something."

Rachel felt her heart flutter. She almost knew what this was coming to. She'd heard it before, she'd said it before, she'd felt it before, but this was different. A lot different. It wasn't coming from Finn or Jesse. It was coming from Noah Puckerman, the boy notoriously recognized as the one who didn't even seem to know what love was.

"I've only said this to one girl before," Puck continued. "You know who that is. I had a strange feeling whenever I saw her, but she didn't make me nervous like you do. She never turned me into a total sap or constantly made a fool out of me. You do, Rachel. And this is what I wanted to tell you." Puck stopped and Rachel heard him take a deep breath. He exhaled shakily before finally saying what he wanted to. "I love you."

Rachel wanted to scream. Her stomach started doing somersaults as her heart pounded against her chest so loudly that she was sure Puck could hear it through the phone. Adrenaline started racing through her veins and her breathing went shallow. The corners of her mouth slowly lifted upward into a bright smile. She blinked several times, anticipating the moment she'd wake up and realize this had all been a dream. But she wasn't asleep. She was perfectly sane and sound, and she had never felt better in her life.

"I love you, too," she finally managed to choke out. She waited for Puck to reply, but the two were quiet for a short moment.

"Really?" Puck asked suddenly.

"Yes. Really."

"Awesome," Puck mumbled. Rachel giggled. "So I know how you hate the name Curse Reaper, and you told me you were thinking of Zachary, right?"

"Right," Rachel agreed, blinking. She was only slightly taken aback by the sudden change of subject.

"Well, I thought of a totally Jewish name that's also kinda badass," Puck explained, "and it even works with the double-barreled last name." He paused for dramatic effect. "Zachary Gabriel Berry-Puckerman."

Rachel gasped slightly. "Noah, I love it! It's settled; that's what we're naming our son!"

"That was a lot easier than I thought it would be, actually," Puck admitted. He paused for a moment. "Ugh. My mom's telling me to take Sarah to the park, so I gotta go. Talk to you later, babe."

"Bye, Noah." Rachel hung up the phone in satisfaction. She'd been told that she was loved _and_ she and Puck had decided on a baby name all in one phone call. Rachel called that a victory. When she went downstairs, she saw that her dads were just pulling into the driveway. They told her that they had gone to the store to pick something up and finally got around to congratulating her, each engulfing her in a tight hug. Rachel laughed. She dragged herself to the living room and contemplated calling Quinn to make sure she was okay. Just when she was about to, she received a text message from Kurt.

_Have you seen Finn? _the message read. Rachel responded with a "No, why?" She wondered what Kurt was talking about. Rachel barely even talked to Finn anymore. They were friends now, but they didn't hang out or anything. They waved to each other when they passed in the hallways and they said a few words now and then during Glee Club, but that was it.

Kurt responded after a minute. _He told me he was going to Puck's house early this morning but he hasn't returned. It's been hours. Could you ask Puck if he's seen him? _Rachel told him that she would do so and she texted Puck in a panic. Where could Finn have gone? He never seemed like the type of person that would run away from home; he was always so content with life lately. Rachel never failed to notice the smile on Finn's face every time she saw him. He seemed to be a generally happy person nowadays.

Maybe Finn had just gotten lost somehow. It wasn't unlike him. Even _he_ could admit that he wasn't even moderately close to being the smartest kid at McKinley. Still, he had enough brains to text Kurt or call his house if he had gotten lost; they would have picked him up by now. So maybe he had run away. But why? There didn't seem to be a good reason for it.

Rachel freaked out when Puck responded by telling her that he hadn't seen Finn. He added that Finn hadn't been to his house in days. Almost hyperventilating, Rachel called the Hudson-Hummel household.

"Hello?" Quinn answered.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked automatically. "Where's Finn? What happened?"

"This morning, he told Kurt and me that he was going to Puck's house. We didn't think much of it, since Puck's his best friend and all. He hitched his skateboard under his arm and left. When I came home from the OB/GYN appointment at four, Carole was in a panic and Burt was trying to calm her down," Quinn explained. "Kurt told me that it had been nine hours and Finn hadn't even come home for lunch at noontime, which he usually does whenever he goes to Puck's house in the morning. Right around lunchtime, Kurt called Finn twice and there was no answer either time, so then Kurt texted Puck, and Puck said that Finn hadn't even come to his house to begin with. So everyone started freaking out and here we are now, asking everyone in this godforsaken town if they've seen Finn."

"Wow," was all Rachel could say. Maybe Finn really _had _run away. "That's . . . unlike Finn to lie like that."

"It is," Quinn agreed. "If I'm being honest with you, I'm scared. I'm seriously just frightened right now. Added to the shock of the fact I'm having twins, one of my best friends has gone missing. What am I even supposed to do right now? There's no way I'm gonna be able to tell Sam about the twins when I'm so shaken up about Finn."

"So hold off on telling Sam," Rachel suggested, ignoring the tears that stung her eyes. "Your friend is missing out in Ohio somewhere. I'm scared, too, you know. Finn was my first love. I love Puck now, but Finn's still a special person in my life."

"I know that, Rachel. Everybody knows that. And I'll have to tell Sam soon. I think I'll tell him as soon as I know Finn's all right," Quinn said. "That should be okay, I guess."

"Do you think Finn ran away?" Rachel asked, suddenly changing the subject.

Quinn sighed on the other line. "That seems to be the most plausible solution to his sudden disappearance, don't you think?"

Rachel observed that Quinn didn't seem to be upset at the least. She seemed perfectly okay. Her voice wasn't strained like Rachel knew hers was; she really cared about Finn and she knew she was on the verge of crying because Finn could die. But Quinn seemed fine. She wasn't even as upset as she was when she learned she was having twins at the doctor's appointment in the morning.

"Besides," Quinn continued, "since Kurt went to Dalton weeks ago, Burt and Carole have been bombarded with his tuition costs in addition to all the other bills. Perhaps Finn feels like he was being a burden to his parents. That seems sort of likely, right? He's such a sweet guy like that."

Rachel thought about that. Quinn had a point. Although Finn didn't seem like he'd run away, he _did _seem like the type of person to want to help his parents in whatever way he could. Maybe he figured running away would rid Burt and Carole of the financial issues that were brought on by two teenage boys.

"You could be right, Quinn," Rachel said. "Have you guys called the police yet?"

"As a matter of fact, Burt's on the phone right now filing a Missing Persons Alert," Quinn replied. "The cops will be out looking for him in no time."

"That's good," Rachel said.

Then it was quiet. The two girls had nothing to say. It stayed awkward for at least a full minute before Quinn said she had to go. Rachel knew that that wasn't true, but she accepted, anyway. When she put her phone down, she started to cry. Why had Finn run away? What was wrong with him? He could be hurt by now. He was too much of a blockheaded klutz to be out there on his own. And since when did he even _have _a skateboard, let alone ride one? Rachel had never heard him say a thing about skateboarding.

* * *

Finn pushed his board forward, his long legs sending him far as he stretched them out behind him. He figured he would go as far as his legs and the wheels of his skateboard would take him as he tightened the hood of his black hoody over his head. He wasn't the best skater—the only coordination he possessed was hand-eye, since he was a drummer and he played basketball and football—but he could at least keep his feet on the deck and hold a steady pace as he rode. He could do a few basic tricks, but nothing spectacular.

He continued riding through the streets of Lima. The flow of traffic was at a higher level than usual. Finn steered clear of riding anywhere near the road because with his clumsiness, he knew he'd get hit by a car.

Finn couldn't admit to himself that he'd actually run away from home. He knew he was of no use to his parents; he was much dumber than Kurt, so he couldn't even help them with the bills or anything. He couldn't find a job anywhere other than Sheet's 'N Things, where he and Puck worked to help with Santana and Rachel's child support. Finn even chipped in for Quinn's bills when Sam was an asshole and forgot to pay his share. But even Finn's crummy job wasn't enough help for the Hudson-Hummels to be out of debt, so the tall boy figured there would be one less mouth to feed if he just left. And that's exactly what he did.

Finn already missed being at home. He'd been riding as far away from his house as possible for a bit over nine hours now, but he was pretty sure he had gone in somewhat of a circle and was now close to his house. He turned around and booked it the other way; he couldn't get caught by his family. He hadn't had breakfast or lunch and he was sure he was going to have to skip dinner, too. He wouldn't be able to get food anywhere with empty pockets. Where would he shower? He'd forgotten to bring clothes or anything else with him before he left. Where would he sleep? He hadn't thought through any of this before grabbing his skateboard and heading out.

As he pondered all of this, he got lost in his thoughts. It wasn't long before he was brought back to reality when he collided with another person. He fell backwards off his board and landed right on his back against the pavement of the sidewalk. He'd been cruising rather quickly, he figured, to have this much force in a collision. He sat up, feeling slightly dizzy. He rubbed his head and noticed he'd run into another skater as he watched two skateboard roll slowly to a halt some yards away. Finn looked at who he'd hit. She was wearing a black hoody like Finn, but her hood wasn't pulled up, and she had dark jeans with holes in the knees. The long, sleek black hair and combat boots told Finn who it was immediately.

"Tina?" he asked, his dizziness slowly fading.

Tina snapped her head up, staring at him. "Oh, Finn. It's you."

"What are you doing out here?" Finn stood up and offered his hand for Tina to take. She did so, getting to her feet as Finn pulled her for extra support.

"I just came out for a ride," Tina explained, dusting herself off. "Things have been getting really stressful at home and skateboarding helps relieve all the tension."

Finn went to retrieve their boards. "Wow," he said when he came back. "I never knew you rode. I would have never guessed. And when you fall — isn't it, like, bad for the baby or something?"

"I've been skating since I was six. With more than ten years' worth of experience, I rarely fall off the board, and I don't think it would hurt the baby severely, anyway. And to be honest," Tina giggled, taking her skateboard from Finn, "you aren't really seen as a skater in my eyes, either."

Finn smiled. "Fair enough."

"So what are _you _doing out here?" Tina asked. She put the board down and stepped on it, pushing forward with her right leg. She began riding circles around Finn. "Are you stressed out, too?"

Finn shrugged, balancing on the nose of his board. "Guess you could say that. I ran away from home. I'm seen as nothing more than difficult to deal with there. I get crappy grades, I have a crappy job, I'm a crappy quarterback, and I'm just a crappy son and brother overall. I figured I could leave the house to help my mom and Burt deal with the financial issues and stuff."

"You're a good person, Finn. They're probably out of their minds looking for you, you know," she said as Finn started doing ollies on his board. "You should probably just go home and tell them you had good intentions for leaving in the first place."

Finn shook his head. "Easier this way."

"Whatever you say," Tina sighed. She started moving in a straight line, so Finn strode forward and followed her. The two rode side-by-side, their paces differing from time to time. Then Finn began to get cocky and he grinned lopsidedly as he started pushing forward all too quickly. He crouched down on his board and held out his arms, showing off. He became too conceited for his own good and closed his eyes, feeling the wind hit his face. He was totally unaware of the fact that he was headed for the road.

"Check me out, Tina," he called out excitedly.

Tina stopped riding and gasped as a Porsche came speeding around the corner. "Finn, watch out!"

The tall boy cruised off the curb of the sidewalk just as his eyelids fluttered open. He quickly stood from his crouching position, wobbling unsteadily as the board carried him to the middle of the road. He scraped the sole of his sneaker against the asphalt to stop himself. He hopped off the board and bent to pick it up with the intention of running out of the road, but the car seemed to come out of nowhere. Finn heard a loud crack as his arm compressed against the front of the car. He flew through the air and landed on his back, the Porsche coming to a halt with a screech. Finn groaned in pain and rolled over. He saw Tina flailing her arms slightly, and then he closed his eyes.

* * *

**Did you catch the Once Upon A Mattress reference? :D If you did, you're my bestest friend ever. I'll tell you all what it was in the next chapter. In the meantime, go buy the movie or listen to all the songs on YouTube because the whole musical is amazing.**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Once Upon A Mattress reference was "She was perfectly sane and sound, and she had never felt better in her life." In one of my favorite songs from the musical, it says, _"I'm perfectly sane and sound, never felt better in my life." _:) So yeah.**

**I don't really like this chapter but whatever. I like the little cliffy after the Finn/Tina scene, but that's different!**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

"Finn!" Tina shrieked. She stood at the curb of the sidewalk, too scared to step into the road. She cringed as the Porsche revved up again. It pulled to the very side of the road and then the door swung open. Tina willed herself to tear her eyes away from Finn for a moment to see the driver get out of the car. She watched as a young man about her age—if not slightly older, but much shorter—emerged, his brown eyes wide as he stared down at the boy he'd hit. He slammed the door shut and knelt down beside Finn.

"I am _so _sorry," he said sincerely, rolling Finn over. "Are you okay? Can you hear me? If you can hear me, lift your arm, open your eyes, make a sound — _anything_."

Finn didn't respond. A grimace fixed on Tina's face as she looked at the young man who'd run into her friend with his car. He looked vaguely familiar, but Tina just couldn't seem to put a name to the face, although she struggled to do so.

The boy pulled Finn's body over to the side of the road. "I should get him to the hospital," he suggested. "He's unconscious but still breathing. He'll be okay if I get him there soon."

"No." Tina narrowed her eyes. "He'll be fine with me. I can take care of this."

The young man looked up at Tina and smirked. "Don't take it personally, but I think I'd be a little better suited to take care of this situation."

"Why? You're a stranger to him. I know he would—"

"Whoa, whoa," the guy chuckled, cutting Tina off as his thick eyebrows came together slightly. "A stranger? I'm no stranger, Tina."

Tina's eyes widened. "You know my name? But—I know—you're not—don't you go—" She continued stammering and then took a deep breath, folding her arms across her chest. She shook her head to some extent, her long hair spilling over her shoulders. "Who are you?"

"It's me," the boy said. He sat Finn up against his car and then straightened his back, staring at Tina with the smallest hint of a smile. His dark hair was gelled with an enormous amount of hair product. Tina recognized him then, sighing as he straightened out his Dalton Academy blazer. "Blaine Anderson. And I repeat: I'm no stranger."

"I _knew _you looked familiar to me." Tina sat down next to an unconscious Finn, slapping her hand against his face repeatedly in an attempt to wake him. "Since when do you drive a Porsche? That's so—"

"Gay?" Blaine grinned. "It was a gift from my dad when I got my license. He really likes cars, especially these types, so he figured we would bond over it if I started to drive one. He had no luck."

Tina ignored him. After a few more attempts, Finn opened his eyes, blinking a few times. He looked around and then sat up straight. He started rubbing his left arm with the palm of his right hand. He groaned in pain, looking down at it.

"What the hell happened?" he asked. He looked at Tina, and then at Blaine.

"Your brother's boyfriend hit you with his super cool car," Tina teased, tossing a glare in Blaine's direction. "You were unconscious for a few minutes, and now I guess your arm's hurt."

"_I _wanted to take you to a hospital, but Tina objected," Blaine added.

"I'm fine," Finn grumbled, pulling himself to his feet. Tina did the same. She and Blaine stood on either side of Finn, following him as he dragged himself toward the closest bench available, which was made of stone and not very comfortable, but it would have to do. The three sat together and Finn's arm started to throb. He had never felt such pain. He felt somewhat tired, if not nauseous.

Finn turned to glower at Blaine. "You bastard," he growled, his voice slightly hoarse. "You came out—agh, it hurts!—you came out of nowhere."

Blaine held his hands up in front of himself defensively. "Hey, now. It's not very fair to call me a bastard, now, is it? In my defense, you were crouching down and you rode out into the road too quickly. By the time I saw you, you were stumbling to get out of the road, but I was way too close to stop swiftly enough to _not _hit you."

"Yeah, right." Tina shook her head, totally unconvinced. She snaked an arm over her torso, lovingly caressing the baby inside, grateful that he or she was all right. With her free hand, Tina held Finn's injured arm very gently and examined it on all sides. The bone was, without a doubt, not where it should have been. "Your arm's broken, Finn. There's no doubt about it."

"Figured." Finn stared down at his arm. "What should we do?"

"We should take you to the hospital," Blaine said. "That's the best thing to do."

Finn shrugged. "S'okay. Doesn't hurt as bad as it did a minute ago," he assured the two sitting beside him. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Tina stood up and pulled off her hoody, revealing a sheer white top with a black camisole underneath. The two boys were unaware of what she was doing. She draped the sweatshirt over her arm as she tugged off the blouse, standing only in her black tank top. She handed Finn the shirt and put her hoody back on, sitting down next to the tall boy.

"This'll hold you for the time being," she said as she tied a makeshift sling around Finn's arm and shoulder with the blouse.

"Thanks."

For a moment or two, things were silent. It wasn't long before the most dapper of the three broke the silence.

"Finn!" Blaine exclaimed suddenly. "Where have you been? Kurt's going crazy wondering where you are. He skipped our emergency Warblers practice today just so he could stay home with your parents. Everyone's worried sick."

"No, they're not. Nobody cares about me. And that's why I ran away," Finn mumbled.

Blaine's eyes widened. "You ran away? That's ridiculous! And of course people care about you. You're my boyfriend's brother; I'd obviously be upset if something were to happen to you."

"You mean something like getting hit by some asshole in a lame-ass Porsche?" Finn mocked.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like that. You think I don't feel guilty for running into you with my car and breaking your arm?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Tina said under her breath.

Blaine ignored her. "I'm not a bad person. I don't take pleasure in other people's pain. That's just downright _psychotic_," he uttered.

Finn shrugged. "Yeah."

"I think you should go home," Blaine said, standing up. "It would be best for everyone if you just did the right thing and went home. You need to go to the hospital, too. Get your arm looked at." He sighed, fiddling with the hem of his blazer. "Anyway, I've gotta run. See you two later."

The New Directions members watched as Blaine got in his car and drove off. They sat next to each other in silence. Finn cradled his newly-wrapped arm as Tina rubbed her stomach with both hands. She became preoccupied with the action, imagining a little tiny baby inside of her. A miniature Mike. She smiled slightly at the image. Then she looked up at Finn, who seemed to be daydreaming, a glassy look in his chocolate brown eyes.

"You know, this is the first face-to-face conversation you and I have had with no one else around," she observed.

Finn glanced at the pedestrians that lined the sidewalk—there _were _other people around—but he understood Tina's point nonetheless. He smiled lopsidedly, turning toward the Asian-American girl beside him. "Yeah, you're right. You're actually really cool, though. And thanks for sticking here with me, by the way."

"No problem," Tina assured him.

Then it got quiet again. Finn stared at his sneakers. He realized that this nauseating feeling wasn't from being unconscious. It was guilt. He was guilty because he knew this made him a liar. He'd been lying this entire time. To Tina, to Blaine, _to himself_. He'd made up the whole "nobody cares about me" stint because even he couldn't even come to terms with the real reason he'd run away. He was too ashamed of himself to tell his newfound friend Tina about his actual situation.

Once the truth got out, he would be made fun of for life. His friends would all start shooting insults at him left and right. And he wouldn't even be able to run away from it. He would have to endure it because that's what men did, right? Stood up for themselves and didn't try to avoid the teasing? He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"What's wrong, Finn?" Tina asked.

Finn shook his head. "Nothing."

"Liar."

The insult wasn't intended to hurt Finn as much as it did because Tina didn't know that Finn was lying about so much more. He looked up at her, his eyes filled with remorse and regret.

"Can I be honest with you?" he asked.

Tina shrugged. "Of course."

"I didn't run away to help my parents with money. And it's not because people don't care about me, either," Finn admitted. He gulped. "It's not even close to that. It's something totally different. Something I'm ashamed of. Very, _very _ashamed of."

"Well, what is it?" Tina's voice was soft and gentle.

The truth was on the tip of Finn's tongue. He looked down, slammed his eyes shut, and opened his mouth to tell Tina exactly why he'd left home in the first place.

* * *

Rachel knelt down on the floor of her room, digging through the bucket of various milestones from her childhood. It was a large container filled with several different photographs, drawings, projects, and other items from when she was growing up. Her fathers kept everything. She planned on doing the same for her son as he grew up to be a fine young man.

Rachel reached elbow-deep into the container. When she got toward the bottom of the bucket, she sliced the side of her finger on the edge of a paper. She gasped slightly and yanked the source of her paper cut from the pile. Without looking at it, she put it down beside her and tended to the small gash on her forefinger, which was bleeding profusely. It was a very deep cut and it stung awfully. She went to her desk and grabbed a tissue from the box, dabbing the blood away from the wound. It wouldn't stop bleeding. She got a Band-Aid from her bathroom and wrapped it around the slash. She left it alone and got back down on her knees, picking up the paper that had caused her this wound.

With a little gasp, Rachel smiled widely. This was her kindergarten class's unofficial yearbook. On the front of the book was the class picture. Though it was more than ten years ago—closer to eleven than ten—she remembered when that picture was taken because she could see the anger in six-year-old Rachel Berry's eyes. Though the little starlet was grinning brightly, her big brown eyes showed slight hatred for the smaller boy standing next to her. The smallest kid in the class always got to be front and center, and they got to hold the sign that showed the teacher's name and the year the class took place. Rachel couldn't believe it now, but she wasn't always the shortest in her class. In fact, the boy that was littler than her was none other than Finn Hudson.

At younger ages, Finn was always the shortest child in his classes. It wasn't until he turned twelve that he began that awkward transition from boy to man, and he went through several growth spurts that led him to be as tall as he was currently at seventeen years old. Until then, Finn always got to be the kid in the middle of the front row in all of his class pictures. He was in Rachel's kindergarten class—although the two of them never interacted and they hadn't even talked to each other until sophomore year in high school—and Rachel had taken a disliking to the uncoordinated boy with disheveled brown hair ever since picture day that first year of school.

Rachel started flipping through the booklet. She saw the individual pictures of each and every child in the class. The only New Directions members that were in the class were Finn, Santana, Mercedes, and herself. The others were either people Rachel didn't talk to anymore or ones that had moved away at later ages. Under the headshots of the kids were fill-in-the-blank statements that the children had answered and the teacher had written out for them. Rachel was the second child listed in the book; it was alphabetical by last name, and the only one before her was a boy named Dylan Arlo, who'd moved to Florida in sixth grade. Below the little version of herself, Rachel saw in bold letters: "My name is . . ." She had told her teacher to write _Rachel Barbra Berry_ on the line provided. Following that were random things like "My favorite color is . . ." and "When I'm not in school, I like to . . ."

Rachel literally laughed aloud when she reached a certain thing that she'd said when she was a little girl. The sentence read, "I am a star because . . ." Young Rachel Berry, being Little Miss I'm-Gonna-Be-Famous-Someday, had told her teacher to write _I just am_. Rachel giggled and flipped through the book until she reached Finn's page. He was smiling crookedly in his picture, like he still did. Finn said that he was a star because he was "special and unique."

"Very original, Hudson," Rachel breathed teasingly, going to Mercedes' page. The girl had little afro-puffs on the sides of her head and her smile was awkwardly wide. She was adorable. She was a star because she loved to sing and was "gonna be a big star when I grow up."

Then Rachel got to Santana. The Latina was puny and showing off her little HBIC smirk since the beginning. When not in school, Santana said she enjoyed "playing with the boys" and she was a star because "everyone and even the boys like me." Rachel almost rolled her eyes. She would have known that little Santana had said those things without even seeing the name or the picture.

Rachel was tempted to call Mercedes and Santana to tell them that she'd found this, but she knew they wouldn't care. Then she thought about Finn and how he was missing. She forced her thoughts away from him, though; she didn't _want _to think of him right now. She put the memory book back into the bucket and continued looking through pictures. She found several sonogram pictures. Before she got pregnant, all of these looked totally alien to her. But now she could decipher everything in the photo from the top of the head to the little developing toes.

She sighed slightly. Then she got a text message. She figured it was Puck, since he was the only one she texted on a regular basis. But when she opened the message, she saw that it was Sam. He was simply saying hello in an attempt to spark a conversation, Rachel figured, so she replied by saying hi as well. She'd never had a text conversation with Sam before; she had his number, but the only time she ever texted him was when she told him and everyone else that she was having a baby boy.

_Wat r u up to? _the next message read.

_Looking through baby pictures, _she texted back, since she thought text speak was just stupid.

The message she got back surprised her. _Doin anythin later tonite?_

She didn't have plans later, but didn't Sam know that she was with Puck? Wouldn't going out with Sam be cheating? But this wouldn't be a date, she figured. Just two friends going out. But she and Sam weren't friends. Maybe Sam wanted to get to know her and become friends. Either way, Rachel told the truth.

_No, I'm not doing anything. Why?_

A couple minutes later, she received: _Come to the lima freeze with me around 7:30? My friends all kinda bailed on me and u seem cool. I just wanna get to kno u better._

Rachel's thumbs skimmed across the keys on her phone without actually pressing any of the little buttons. She didn't know what to say. This was just a friendly outing that Sam was offering. But what if Sam started to like her? She wouldn't feel the same way and then she'd break the younger boy's heart. She was torn.

Finally, after minutes of going back and forth, she sent a reply, the most honest and truthful one she could think of.

_I'd love to._


	10. Chapter 10

**Am I the only one who thought "Night of Neglect" was a really sucky episode? At least, _too _sucky for them to make us all wait a month-long hiatus for. I really think they could've gone straight to "Born This Way" and it wouldn't have made a difference.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Rachel entered the Lima Freeze, noticing that it was full of people. She was sure she wouldn't be able to find Sam in such a heavily-packed place. Luckily, the blond was waving his arm in the air so that Rachel could see him. The girl smiled and sat down across from Sam in the booth he'd picked out.

"Sorry I'm late," Rachel breathed, putting her purse down and settling in.

Sam shrugged. "S'okay. It's only, like, seven-forty-five. We've got plenty of time."

"That's true." Rachel pushed her hair behind her ears. "So, your friends bailed on you?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "They've all got their girlfriends and stuff. Or they're just sick of me. I dunno."

"Oh, who could get sick of _you_?" Rachel grinned.

Sam smiled, too, his features lighting up. The corners of his wide mouth twitched upward slightly, almost giving Rachel a small smile. His blue eyes glistened.

_Oh no, _Rachel thought. _Now he thinks I like him. Nice going, Rach. Stop complimenting him! _"Did you order yet?"

"Yeah, actually. I ordered you just plain frozen yogurt. Once, when Finn was rambling all kinds of nonsense, he said something about you liking frozen yogurt," Sam explained.

Rachel smiled again. "That was nice of you."

"Well, I try." Sam leaned back in his seat, draping his arm over the booth behind him. "So, have you talked to Quinn at all lately?"

_He's asking about Quinn. That means he's still into her so he doesn't like me, _Rachel thought, her heartbeat slowing its rapid pace. Suddenly, she felt tense. Sam still didn't know that Quinn was having twins. Rachel frowned and her cheeriness faded. She straightened her back, anxiously smoothing out her skirt. "Um, yes, I have."

Sam sat up.

Rachel cleared her throat. "She and I went to the doctor's office together for back-to-back ultrasound appointments."

Sam frowned, too. "Is my baby okay?"

Rachel didn't know if Sam was talking about Quinn or the child when he said "my baby," so she just nodded.

"That sounds weird," the boy said out of the blue. "'My baby.' I have a baby. Well, I'm _going _to have a baby, but still. I'm gonna be a dad." He looked down fiddling his thumbs. "A dad. A sixteen-year-old dad. It's really kinda sinking in now."

"No second thoughts," Rachel scolded, the words coming out in a sudden rush. She wrapped her arms over her torso. "There's no turning back now. I don't care if you and Quinn aren't together because you two have a baby on the way, regardless of whether or not you're a couple. It's time to face the harsh reality that you're a sophomore in high school but you are, in fact, going to have to take responsibility for a whole other life."

"We only did it for the pact," Sam reminded Rachel. "And it doesn't even feel like a pact anymore. All the girls did this so you wouldn't have to go through it alone. In the beginning, it was cool. It felt like we were . . . together, you know?"

Rachel rested her arms on the table and willed Sam to go on.

"It was like we were never gonna grow apart because we had a special thing besides Glee Club that would keep us together. All of our kids would be friends and we'd all be there throughout our lives. But now it's like all of us are just on our own," Sam murmured. "You and Puck, me and Quinn . . . We're all just in our separate little worlds, waiting for these kids to come as if all of them were unintentional and we never even had a pact at all."

Rachel's brown eyes bore into Sam's blue ones. She was speechless when she realized he had a point. The whole "togetherness" feeling had seeped away with any of them realizing it. It really _didn't _feel like a pact anymore. They may as well have all just gotten pregnant on their own because they only knew it was a pact when they said it. That wasn't okay. Everyone's lives were going to be altered for no good reason at all. Something had to be done.

"You're going to have to help me out, then," Rachel said, leaning forward. Sam leaned forward as well. "You and I are gonna bring this pact together again."

Sam smiled. "I like your attitude, Rachel Berry."

"You don't even know the half of it, Sam Evans."

* * *

"What do you mean, 'No one knows where Finn is'?" Santana demanded into the phone, crossing her free arm over her chest. She was in her room because she wanted to be alone; one of her elder brothers had just come home from college for a stay and her family was downstairs celebrating the surprise visit. The way everyone gushed over Nicolas in such a tangled mess of hurried speech made Santana sick to her stomach.

"_It means exactly what it sounds like,"_ Mercedes said calmly. _"No one knows where Finn is."_

"Did he, like, get kidnapped or something?" Santana asked.

"_Everyone thinks he ran away."_

"Oh, Jesus," Santana grumbled under her breath. "Odio mi vida."

"_Why would you say you hate your life?"_ Mercedes asked curiously, picking up on the phrase she'd learned in Spanish class.

Santana sighed. "If he's not here, my family will have to play the baby bills all on our own. Finn won't pay his cut and then my family will end up in debt and I won't be able to provide for this kid. And it'll be all Frankenteen's fault."

"_And you care not about Finn's safety, but about money?"_

"I don't care about money. I care about this baby," Santana muttered. "I may seem all tough on the outside but I have a heart, you know. This baby belongs to me and I intend to love it."

"_True."_

Santana heard a beeping sound emit from her cell phone, indicating that she had another call waiting. "Hold on a second, Aretha." She pulled her phone away from her ear and saw that it was Rachel calling. "Ugh. I gotta go. Hobbit's on the other line and she'll probably keep talking for hours."

Mercedes giggled. _"Okay. Bye."_

"Peace." Santana clicked her phone to the other line, where Rachel was waiting. "What do you want, Dwarf?"

"_Hi, Santana. How's your baby doing?"_

Santana's brow puckered. "It's fine. Why do you want to know?"

"_Well, we're in this pact together, right? I was just wondering if things are going smoothly for your pregnancy,"_ Rachel explained. _"Speaking of the pact, Sam and I have planned a meeting of the whole group on Monday after Glee Club."_

"You and Blondie? Since when has that been going on?" Santana asked curiously.

"_There is nothing going on between Sam and me,"_ Rachel clarified. _"He has feelings for someone else. We went to the Lima Freeze for a friendly outing last night. Nothing happened, besides the fact that we decided together to turn the feel of this pact around."_

"What does that even mean?"

"_The feeling of family that this pact was meant to bring has seemed to disappear. We want to bring it back."_

"Okay, whatever. If I agree to show up, can this conversation be over?"

"_Not yet. I'm sure you've heard about Finn's sudden disappearance," _Rachel assumed.

Santana sighed. "What about it?"

"_The police found him and Tina at the edge of town," _Rachel said._ "They're now at the hospital being checked out."_

"Why, are they hurt?"

"_Finn's arm is injured and he suffered the slightest concussion. I'm not sure how it happened, though."_

"Oh," was all Santana could say at first. But then she found her voice again. "Why was he with the Goth chick?"

"_From what Kurt told me, Tina was out for a ride on her skateboard and she bumped into Finn," _Rachel explained.

"And they were at the edge of town?"

"_Right."_

"Jeez. She rode pretty far to get all the way out there."

"_I know."_

"Okay, well, I'm gonna hang up now. I'll be at the meeting tomorrow. Bye." Santana hung up without getting a response from Rachel.

She started thinking about Finn then. He was safe now, even if his arm was hurt. Although he was nothing more than an acquaintance to Santana, she still wanted him to be okay. She may have been having his baby, but she did not love Finn Hudson. She would never think of literally dating him. Not only was he too stupid for his own good, but Santana had feelings for someone else. And that someone had feelings for a _different_ someone. The thought made Santana angry.

The two ex-cheerleaders belonged together. It was obvious. They did everything together and they had a special bond, one that Santana hadn't had with any guy she'd ever been with. The way she felt about Brittany was indescribable. It was love, no doubt, but she just couldn't explain it. And she sure as hell couldn't deny it.

Santana lounged on her bed, wishing Brittany were with her right now. But she'd talked to the girl earlier and asked if she'd like to hang out. Brittany said no because she would be busy with Artie all day. Santana was infuriated. Now she was holed up in her room because she didn't want to have to deal with all the love her brother was getting. That was the love she so desperately wanted. It seemed like she just wasn't good enough to deserve love. There was no way she would live up to her parents' expectations of being as smart as her older brothers. And apparently, Brittany would rather be with Artie than her.

Then her thoughts wandered to Sam and Quinn. They'd had a rough breakup. It left Quinn curled up on her bed for days, crying her eyes out to no end. Santana had once gone over to Quinn's house to calm her down, but it didn't seem to work. Quinn was heartbroken. But even if they weren't talking anymore, the two blonds agreed to take care of their baby together. Santana figured she could work out a plan with Finn, too, because she wasn't—she would never be—with him.

* * *

Quinn had had enough of being alone. Sam had torn her apart. Sure, it was her fault because she was the one who kissed Finn. But she'd been in love with Sam when he just flat-out told her he'd gotten with Santana. It wasn't fair.

But now she was totally done with the pain she felt in her heart when she saw him. She didn't want to have to deal with the heartbreak anymore. She was going to move on, whether she liked it or not.

She had feelings for Finn. She couldn't deny that. And she knew he reciprocated those feelings, so it wouldn't be hard to make him hers. She walked downstairs to the basement, where Finn was watching some war movie. Quinn stood tall, flipping her blond hair out of her face before going to the couch where Finn sat. His big brown eyes were glued to the TV. Quinn smiled, sitting down right beside him.

"Hey, Finn," she greeted him. "What're you watching?"

"Some special on the civil war," Finn muttered.

Quinn nodded. "Oh. Cool."

"Yeah." Finn shrugged. "I guess."

Quinn pursed her lips. She tried watching the movie as Finn did, but she didn't know what was going on and she got bored. She sighed, turning to look at Finn instead. Her eyes wandered from his parted lips to the untidy brown hair surrounding his perfect ears. Quinn couldn't help but lean closer to him, causing Finn to turn toward her.

"What'cha doing?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Quinn shrugged. "You're just beautiful."

Finn turned away, pressing his lips together. He didn't look at the TV, though. He stared down at the ground with his brow furrowed.

"What?" Quinn questioned.

"Nothing."

"I'm just being honest. You're gorgeous, Finn." Quinn leaned toward him again, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Um." Finn gulped. "Thanks."

Quinn lifted her head. "What is your deal?"

Finn got to his feet. "I already told you. Nothing."

"Don't lie to me. You just got back from the hospital hours ago and you're going into questioning tomorrow so you better break that habit of lying," Quinn spat. She stood up as well.

"I don't even know why I have to go into questioning with the police," Finn complained. "I ran away and broke my arm. Big deal."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "They have to know _who _broke your arm, Finn. You got hit by a car and you refused to tell the doctors who the driver is, but you're going to have to tell the police."

"I don't want to tell anyone. I don't want him to get in trouble," Finn stated.

"Why can't you tell me?" Quinn asked. "I thought you and I had feelings for each other. If we're going to be a couple, isn't honesty a priority?"

"Whoa, whoa." Finn narrowed his eyes. "A couple?"

Quinn threw her head back. "Oh, my goodness. _Yes_, a couple! You obviously love me, and guess what, Finn. I love you, too. I want to be with you."

Finn closed his eyes. He bowed his head, rubbing the back of his neck as he let out a groan. When he looked back up, his brown eyes were filled with regret. He stared at the blond with remorse clear in his expression.

"I don't want to be a couple with you, Quinn," he said softly, looking straight into Quinn's green eyes.

Suddenly, the girl was livid. "Why? Just days ago, you would've _killed _to have me in your arms! Now, when I'm finally offering to be with you, you turn me down? What the hell, Finn? Is it _just _to get me pissed off? If that's the case, then mission accomplished! That's so—"

"I'm gay, Quinn!" Finn yelled suddenly. Quinn went silent. Her eyes widened. Finn slowly lowered his head again. "I-I'm gay. And that's why I ran away. I'm ashamed of myself."

Quinn didn't know what to say. Finn was standing in front of her with tears falling from his eyes, and he'd just told her that he was gay. The boy Quinn loved was _gay_. And she thought he'd always harbored closeted homophobic tendencies. Apparently not.

Finally, Quinn found her voice. "How do you know?"

Finn looked up at her. The whites of his eyes were irritated and red. He gently rubbed his broken arm in its sling and murmured, "I'm in love with Sam."


	11. Chapter 11

**This one is very super really short but it's okay because Fabrevans and hfkdjdhjf that's all I'm gonna say.**

**I'M SUPER EXCITED FOR RUMORS.**

**That is all. Enjoy.**

* * *

Mike was at his locker, putting his books away. He was planning on going to the choir room to practice dancing because it was free period. Usually, kids just roamed the hallways and talked during this time, and others took the time to study or do homework. Mike, on the other hand, liked to go to the choir room or the auditorium and just dance. He closed his locker just as he heard the patter of rushing footsteps and the squeaking of wheels approach him.

"It was _Blaine_," someone squeaked in his ear. He turned to see Mercedes standing there, her eyes wide. She was grinning hugely in anticipation of Mike's reaction. Sitting beside Mercedes was Artie, a gentle smile on his face. His hands were folded across his lap.

Mike's brow furrowed. "What was Blaine?"

"The one who hit Finn with his car! He was on his way to visit his sick aunt," Mercedes explained as the three began to make their way down the hall, "and Finn was in the middle of the road so Blaine hit him. Accidentally, of course. Kurt told me the whole thing. And he wanted to take Finn to the hospital but Tina refused to let him."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Mike said, holding his hands up. "Hold up. Tina was a part of all this?"

"She was riding her skateboard when she bumped into Finn," Artie told him. "Both of them were in the hospital last night to be checked out. She's okay, but Finn broke his arm and suffered a concussion."

Mercedes added, "Neither of them are at school today because they're in interrogation with the police."

Mike's brow furrowed. "Why didn't Tina tell me?"

"She tried to. She said you weren't answering any of her calls last night when she got back from the hospital."

Mike pursed his lips. He told his friends that he was going to the choir room and they bid him goodbye, both on their way to study together. He and Tina's relationship seemed rather strained lately. They never really hung out outside of school anymore. They texted a lot, but they never seemed to call each anymore or make plans. It was weird. It was almost as if they were sick of each other, but Mike wasn't sick of his girlfriend at all. He could never be. She was perfect to him, and she was carrying his child to top it all off.

He got to the choir room and started dancing immediately. He didn't even need music. He could just dance. It always depended on how he was feeling. But right now, he just didn't know what we was feeling at all.

Mike kept messing up his dance steps. He continuously tripped over his own feet or stepped the wrong way, and he sighed in frustration each time it happened. After a while, he groaned, stomping on the ground in aggravation before sitting down at the piano bench. He slammed his elbows against the keys, resulting in an ugly sound emitting from the piano. He put his face in his hands.

He was so stupid. He shouldn't have agreed to this pact. It was putting a strain on his life.

Now he regretted it.

* * *

Quinn stared longingly down the hall as Sam leaned back against his locker, textbook in hand. He was staring down at the words in concentration. A small dent formed between his eyebrows. Quinn knew that look as one Sam possessed when he was somewhat troubled. Reading surely was not his strong suit; he was dyslexic, after all, and it was difficult for him to understand what he was looking at.

Quinn knew everything about Sam and it pained her. She knew what he liked to do in his spare time, she knew what his grades were like, and she knew information about his home life that he didn't share with anyone else. Knowing more than she should know about him just made her believe more and more that they belonged together.

She thought she loved Finn. She really did. But after he told her the truth about loving Sam, she thought about it. She never really got over Sam, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that she had. She sighed. It wasn't going to be easy letting go of the love they shared. Absentmindedly, she walked down the hall, staring at her shoes. Free period wouldn't be over for a bit longer; maybe she'd just go study or something. She just wanted to get her mind off of Sam.

"Hey," she heard suddenly, releasing her from her trance. She knew that voice well. Her heart fluttered as she looked to her right, her green eyes meeting Sam's bright ones. She fought hard to bite back a smile.

"Hi," she said back.

Sam closed the textbook and held it at his side. "Can I talk to you?"

Quinn nodded.

"I'm sorry for everything," he murmured, glancing down. He used his free hand to caress his opposite forearm. "I guess I really overreacted when I heard you were living with Finn. I just . . . I was really jealous, you know? It wasn't fair that he'd get to have you every single day."

Quinn swallowed, intending just to listen and not interject him.

"I just wanted to apologize because it's been a while," he said, "and I . . . think I still love you."

She felt her stomach lurch. The babies must have been excited. "You . . . Really?"

Instead of answering, Sam leaned in to press his lips to Quinn's. He placed his free hand on her neck, lacing his fingers through her hair slightly. In shock, Quinn's eyes widened before snapping shut, and her hands twitched. She managed to get them up behind Sam's neck. She pulled him closer and felt like she was in heaven.

Sam pulled back to smile at her. "Yeah. Really."

Quinn buried her face into his neck, closing her eyes. "I've missed you," she whispered.

Sam gently pushed her away. Her heart pounded against her chest. Surely she hadn't said something wrong to make him change his mind. All she'd said was that she missed him. And that was the truth. But he wasn't denying her. He looked down at her stomach, using one hand to caress it slowly. He smiled at her.

"How is he?" he asked. "Or she."

Quinn looked away. She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. Sam knew she only did that when she was nervous. "Um, they're great."

Sam took on a confused expression. "You said 'they'."

"There's two, Sam. Twins. We're having twins."

Sam thought he stopped breathing for a second. He was scared before when he thought about having to raise a child; now the fear had doubled because the responsibility would be doubled. He wasn't going to be a pussy about it, though. He was going to act tough.

"That's good, right? We get two. Double the love." He was sounding more of a sissy than he'd have liked too, but it seemed to make Quinn happy.

She smiled up at him. "Right."


	12. Chapter 12

**Hai, so I kinda hate myself for writing this. But whatevaaa! Have fun in the magical world of ND.**

**Kbye!**

**Review, please!**

* * *

"You're going to have to fess up at some point," the policeman said, pacing around his desk. The room was dim, the only light being that of a desk lamp. It was like an intense investigation, one you saw in the movies. Finn and Tina were seated next to each other. They shared a nervous glance. Mr. Schuester had done this questioning thing before when it came to the Glist, but it wasn't nearly as intimidating as this was right now.

They had been asked for the third time in a row who the driver of the car that had hit Finn was. Up until that point, they'd been nothing but one hundred percent honest with the policeman that was questioning them. But now that they were asked the question that could get Blaine in serious trouble when they both knew it was half Finn's fault, they couldn't bring themselves to tell the truth.

"Neither of you are leaving here until we know who was driving that damn car," the cop muttered.

Tina hated this. She just wanted to go home. If she told the truth, she could do just that. But she knew Finn didn't want her to. She didn't even know why this mattered, anyway. Finn had said repeatedly that he didn't want to press charges but they said the culprit at least needed to be fined. Still, Finn didn't _want _Blaine to get in trouble, and he kept saying that, but they didn't care. It didn't seem quite fair to Tina. And as soon as Finn's arm healed, he would be absolutely fine. So why did any of this matter? Wouldn't it be easier to get it over with? She fidgeted in her seat, unable to hold it in much longer. Just as she was about to open her mouth, the phone rang.

With a groan, the cop picked it up. "Hello?"

"Keep your mouth shut, T," Finn warned out of the corner of his mouth. "Nobody wants Blaine to get in trouble."

Well, Tina sure wanted him to get in trouble. She never really liked Blaine. He seemed . . . weird. Just awkward. He didn't even seem to genuinely care for Kurt as much as the McKinley kids did, which was strange because he was his boyfriend. Weren't couples supposed to be closer than friends? Even though New Directions was more like a family, Tina was sure Blaine should care more deeply for Kurt than the Glee Club did.

She nodded nonetheless because this was mainly about Finn. For a second, she wondered why Finn decided to call her by the nickname that only her friends used.

The cop suddenly grinned. "Ooh," he said. "Someone was feeling a little brave today. Thanks for the update, Murphy." He put the phone down on the receiver and turned to Finn and Tina. "Mr. Blaine Anderson turned himself in to save you two the trouble. You can go know; we've all the information and evidence we need."

* * *

"Double date! Aw, yeah!" Puck bellowed in his best _Jersey Shore_ voice as he drove up to the curb outside of Quinn's house. Rachel giggled from the passenger side, knowing how sucked into that show Puck got. He was like a little girl. He often yelled and swore at the TV when things went wrong or shouted victoriously when it was the other way around.

"I never thought you'd be so excited about a date," Rachel commented. "Especially one with Quinn and Sam tagging along."

"Aw, yeah! Double date time, yeah!" He honked the horn and yelled, "Cab's here!"

Quinn and Sam exited her house and climbed into the backseat of Puck's truck. The four of them muttered a few greetings before Puck began driving.

"Where we headed?" Sam asked.

"Breadstix," Rachel said automatically, as if it were the most blatantly obvious thing in the world.

Puck grinned. "Yeah, buddy! Breadstix! Aw, yeah!"

"What's with the _Jersey Shore_ impressions, man?" Sam asked, smiling slightly.

"He was watching it just before we left the house," Rachel answered for Puck. "He has the DVDs. I think the impressions are all rather cute, actually."

Sam rolled his eyes. "But when _I _do impressions, they're dorky," he muttered. Quinn placed her hand comfortingly on his arm.

"That's 'cause you _are _a dork, dude. I'm a stud. I make anything look cool."

"Thanks, Puckerman."

"No problem, Sammy D!"

When they got to Breadstix, Rachel and Quinn stumbled out of the car anxiously, heaving a sigh of relief when they were finally away from the boys' bickering. Puck and Sam were arguing over which Glee member would have which _Jersey Shore _nickname. It was immature yet strangely charming all at the same time. Their banter was cut off when the four of them entered the restaurant and were seated at the table reserved under the name "Puckleberry." Puck had thought he was being clever.

"Puckleberry?" Quinn asked, arching an eyebrow as they all sat. "Really, Puck?"

He smiled. "Yes, Quinn. Really."

"Can't even believe you're the father of my daughter," Quinn said under her breath, clapping her hands together. Sam chuckled. Rachel struggled to hold back a smile. Puck just rolled his eyes.

After the waitress took their drink orders, they fell into a comfortable kind of silence. But it soon turned into an awkward silence when they looked around, all at a loss for words. Rachel ended up breaking the quietness, to no one's surprise.

"The meeting went well today," she said.

Sam nodded in agreement. "Everyone was cooperative."

"I think it might've been better if we hadn't separated boys from girls for the first half-hour. We actually bonded a lot better when we were brought together," Rachel said, remembering how the meeting had gone. When they were segregated depending on their genders, the girls exchanged childbirth horror stories that they'd heard of. It wasn't very fun at all. But when they all got together, the boys were telling jokes to lighten the mood and they didn't have Mr. Schuester there to tell them they had an assignment for the week or anything. They really felt like a family again.

"We'll use that for the next time," Sam noted.

"We're good partners." Rachel smiled.

Sam nodded in agreement. "Totally."

Quinn and Puck glanced at each other as Rachel giggled and the corner of Sam's big mouth lifted into a grin. Quinn arched an eyebrow and Puck bit the inside of his cheek. Rachel and Sam weren't _that _close, were they? Just friends, right? Quinn looped her arm through Sam's, reassuring the blond boy that he was hers.

"So," Puck breathed, breaking the awkward silence, "how far does Quinn let you get, Trouty?"

Sam's brow furrowed. "We—We've had sex, dude."

"Yeah, for the pact. I'm talking about now." Puck picked up a breadstick and examined it on all sides. He bit into it hesitantly. He hated these things. They were just stale bread and they were disgusting, in his opinion. For some reason, he tried one every time he came to Breadstix because he thought that maybe they would be a little less gross. No luck. He put the rest of the breadstick down on the table and brushed the crumbs off of his hands. "Does she let you get into her pants anymore?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Noah, this isn't a suitable conversation for the dinner table."

"I'm just wondering."

"You don't have to answer, Sam," Rachel assured him. She glared at Puck. "Ignore my boyfriend's lack of appropriateness."

"Uh, _no_," Sam answered anyway, ignoring Rachel, "she doesn't let me get that far anymore."

Quinn narrowed her eyes.

"Not that I'm complaining," Sam lied.

Puck laughed aloud. "Could've called that one!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Quinn asked.

"I means you're a prude," Puck said matter-of-factly.

"I resent that!" Quinn exclaimed.

Puck laughed again. He broke the breadstick in half as crumbs flitted down to the tabletop. He offered half of it to Rachel, who just glowered ominously at him in response. Puck dropped the two halves of the stick and put his hands up defensively. He sighed. "It's true. You really are a prude, Quinn. What else do you call a girl that won't put out?"

"Sensible?" Rachel suggested.

"_Sensible_?" Puck echoed. He rested his hand on Rachel's baby bump and his gaze lingered on Quinn's. "I think Zachary and those two tiny titans over there would agree that everybody in Glee Club is _far _from sensible, Rach."

"Wait, who's Zachary?" Sam asked.

"That's what we're naming our son," Rachel replied quickly, though her stare stayed on Puck's face. "Seriously, Noah, what's gotten into you?"

"Nothing's gotten into me," Puck grumbled bitterly. "What's gotten into _you_? Sam's dick? I honestly wouldn't be surprised!"

The silence returned. This one was a mixture of awkwardness and shock and slight fear. Puck crushed part of the stick in his hand until it was a pile of crumbs in his hand. His jaw clenched. He stared at the table. Quinn's eyes were wide, her mouth agape. She looked up at Sam. His big lips were pressed into a tight line and his eyes looked sorrowful. Rachel's expression was nothing short of total surprise. She was about to clasp Puck's shoulder when the tan boy slipped out of the booth, speed-walking out of the restaurant as he ran a hand over his Mohawk.

"Rachel, I—"

"Don't, Sam," Rachel said through clenched teeth, tears threatening to fall. She pulled out her wallet and slammed a wad of cash on the table. "Here. That's to pay for me and _him_. Have a good dinner, you two."

Although she was pissed, Quinn knew that Rachel was being sincere when she told them to have a good dinner. If Rachel wasn't happy, she at least wanted her friends to be. She slung her purse over her shoulder and strutted out of the building. Quinn didn't bother trying to stop her because she knew she would have no luck. She sighed quietly, reaching across the table to retrieve Rachel's money. She was going to give this back to her later.

"There's nothing going on between Rachel and me. I _swear_."

"I know," Quinn murmured. "That's just Puck. He has . . . anger management issues at times."

Sam nodded. The waitress approached the table with four drinks, confused as she saw that the other side of the table was vacant. Quinn smiled sweetly.

"There was a disagreement so two of our party left." She got her wallet and pulled out just as much cash as Rachel hadn't given her. She handed the money to the waitress. "I'm sorry for your troubles, but we're just going to go. Thank you and keep the change."

Sam got to his feet and Quinn did the same. The two blonds exited the restaurant. In the parking lot, they realized Puck had driven them, but the truck was gone. Rachel was sitting against the wall, her face in her hands. Her knees were pulled close to her chest. Her body racked with sobs. Quinn approached her quickly and sat down beside her friend, rubbing her back consolingly.

"He's not worth it," Quinn whispered. "He's a jerk."

Rachel shook her head. "He's _not _a jerk! He's—" She sobbed again. "I love him!"

Sam silently wondered how they were going to get home. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. This wasn't how he expected a double date to go.


	13. Chapter 13

**WARNING: This chapter deals with self-harm. As in, you know, cutting. One of the characters cuts himself. Just a heads-up. ****I'd appreciate a review because this is my first time trying to right heavy stuff like that.**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Three Weeks Later (Rachel: 14 Weeks - Others: 12 Weeks)**

* * *

"It's a girl!" Tina squealed happily, rushing into the choir room. She was automatically greeted with a hug from Mercedes, and the two girls squealed with contentment. They pulled apart and jumped cheerily for a short moment before sitting down next to each other.

"So, what have we got so far?" Quinn asked. "Three girls and three boys, right?"

Rachel nodded. "We're just awaiting the gender of Santana's baby."

"I'm going to the doctor tonight," Santana explained, "so we'll know later."

"I'm _so _glad she's a girl," Mercedes commented, caressing her baby bump. "I've always wanted a daughter. This is going to be great."

Quinn pursed her lips. "I wasn't expecting two boys, but I'm not upset. Sam will be happy, at least."

"What about you, Britt?" Rachel asked the blond. "Are you happy it's a girl?"

Brittany frowned. "No. I can't name it Leo."

Santana rolled her eyes.

"Well, now I guess it's time for you girls to pick out names!" Rachel exclaimed happily, leaping to her feet. She stood where Mr. Schuester usually did when he talked to the club. Rehearsal had just ended, but the girls had all stayed back because they were waiting for Tina; she'd had an ultrasound appointment to figure out the gender of the baby. The girls had told her that they'd be eagerly waiting in the choir room when she got back, no matter what time it was. Luckily, she'd gotten there just after four-thirty, right as all the boys and Mr. Schuester left.

Tina was doodling on her notebook when Rachel mentioned picking out names. She was halfway through sketching out a skull on the cover when she looked up at Rachel. "I've still been thinking of using Evelyn ever since we had that sleepover, like, a month ago."

"Fantastic! So will you use it?" Rachel asked her.

Tina shrugged. "Yeah," she giggled. "I guess so."

"Evelyn Rose," Mercedes suggested. "How pretty is that?"

"Perfect!"

"I was thinking about using Christian for one of the twins," Quinn piped up. "What do you guys think of that? Or as a middle name. Either way, I like it."

Suddenly, Mercedes got excited. She gasped, bouncing in her chair. "_Oh!_ You know what name is really cute? Jordan Christian! Works with Evans, too, if you ask me."

Tina shared a smile with Rachel, both of them giving Mercedes a look of approval. Brittany loved the name suggestion. Her mouth was slightly agape and her eyes shone with excitement. The girls had to admit that none of them were very good when it came to naming things—Quinn's childhood stuffed lamb was named Lamb Chop, for goodness' sake—but Mercedes seemed to be a natural.

"You're good at this. Since when are you a baby-naming expert?" Santana questioned from where she was seated. Unlike the others, she lacked a look of total surprise, but she still approved of Mercedes' suggestions.

Mercedes shrugged. "I've always been good at it. When I was ten and my aunt was pregnant, I went up to her with a name for the baby and she actually used it," she explained. "I'm naming my little girl Faith Amelia. Using my last name, of course, because I'm not getting with Artie anytime soon."

"Britt, you should think of using the name Brianna," Quinn said.

Rachel beamed. "Brittany and Brianna Pierce! How precious!"

Santana nodded. "Brianna fits a little Britt."

The girls continued tossing names back and forth. After several disagreements and a lot of confliction, each and every one of them agreed on what they would be naming their kids. Rachel felt relieved; a weight had been lifted off of everyone's shoulders. This could count as a meeting of the pact, right? Well, it was only the girls, but Rachel would still count it.

* * *

Finn stood in the middle of the bathroom, staring at himself in the full-length mirror behind the door. He was just so awkward and gangly and klutzy. Sometimes being tall was an advantage. Finn could reach the top shelf of pantries and see on top of refrigerators and stuff. But he stood out so easily, no matter how hard he tried to blend in with the crowd when he sometimes so desperately wanted to stay unnoticed. He lifted up his shirt and his eyes stayed locked on his torso. He wasn't overweight—he was physically fit—but he wasn't buff like Sam. He wanted the six-pack that you could bounce a quarter off of. He wanted what Sam had.

He also wanted Sam's love, but he knew he wasn't going to get that, either.

Finn sighed, pulling his shirt back down with a huff. His gaze lingered over his facial features. He'd never really thought of himself as ugly until right now. As he examined every little detail of his face, each tiny beauty mark, he couldn't help but feel hideous in comparison to other people. Again, he wanted to be like Sam. People made fun of Sam's lips but Finn thought they were the boy's most attractive feature. Finn wanted the blond hair girls swooned over. He wanted those light, melt-your-heart blue eyes. He wanted an idiosyncratic feature that made him who he was, like Sam's mouth did Sam. Finn's mother always told him that he had distinct cheekbones that looked like they could cut glass. He never knew what that meant, exactly.

That was another thing. He was so dumb. He never understood things, even when people tried so hard just to help him get it. It frustrated him, especially when he had no clue what somebody was saying and everyone else did. It left him feeling out-of-it, and he hated that feeling more than words could even describe, really. He liked to be included and knowing what people were talking about. But it wasn't often that he had that feeling.

He would have to smarten up if he was going to be a dad. Raising a child took smarts, which Finn had, in his own opinion, very little of. All he wanted was to be insanely muscular like Sam. He wanted to be good-looking like Sam. He wanted common sense like Sam.

Finn wanted to _be _Sam Evans.

He sighed heavily, sitting down in the middle of the bathroom floor. He reached up and pulled open the top-right drawer, feeling around in the back. Nobody looked in this drawer; there was nothing useful in it. Well, nothing useful until now. Finn found what he was looking for, closing his slightly shaking fingers around it and pulling it out of the drawer without looking at it.

Finn's breathing quickened to some extent as he dared himself to look down at the object in his hand. It wasn't to be fooled with, and Finn would do no such thing with it. This was strictly what he knew he had to do. He put the object down gently beside him and used his right hand to roll up the left sleeve of his hoody to his elbow, right above where his cast ended. Then he picked up the object again, his hand still trembling. He gulped, pulled off his arm sling, and it took all of his strength to position the edge of the cold blade underneath his cast, right against the skin of his wrist. He stared at it for a moment before his heartbeat rose and he had to turn his head away from the sight.

_This is because you're fat, _he thought, and he added pressure to the edge of the blade. He gasped the second the sharpness broke his skin. He wanted to turn back, to throw the blade away and tell his mom that he'd "just gotten a little cut, that's all." But he couldn't. This was for the best, to make him feel better. He ran the blade along his wrist and, for a moment, the physical pain took away from the psychological pain. Finn just wanted the heartache to go away. And this was working. The stinging feeling in his wrist was pulling all the hurt away from the burning in his heart. He lifted up the blade and pressed it gently against the skin that was still intact directly beneath the new wound. He didn't have much room to work with because his cast caused limitations, but it'd do.

_This is because you're fat. _This time, Finn forced himself to look as he pushed the blade against his skin even harder than last time, running a slit along his wrist that was longer than the first. He hissed as the stinging tingles it sent throughout his body, but the physical hurting was better than his internal pain. He started a new gash and silently said in his mind, _This is because you're stupid._

As Finn got ready to cut one last wound, his hands quaking more than he ever thought they would, he gulped and closed his eyes.

"This is because Sam doesn't love you," he growled out loud. With that, he cut deep into the skin of his arm, creating a gash at least four inches long. Dark red flowed out as the blade moved, and Finn cursed under his breath, dropping the utensil. He got to his feet and pulled a long trail of toilet paper off of the roll, wiping away all the blood. He held the paper against his wounds for ten long minutes before the bleeding stopped. He threw away the evidence and put the blade back where it was. He put his sling back on and sat down on the floor again.

It was kind of hard for Finn to come to terms with what he'd just done. He'd forced the physical infliction of pain upon himself because he was an awful person and everyone hated him. Nobody wanted to spend time with someone so ugly and awkward and brainless. Especially not Sam, who had much better things to do with his life, all of which didn't include being gay. Finn knew that Sam was straight but he would never fully want to believe it. He loved the kid, for God's sake; what else could he do but hope?

Finn looked down at his arm. The wounds were hidden by his sling. By the time of his next doctor's appointment, the gashes would be healed. Finn could hide this. He'd be fine. And so what if people found out, anyway? He had reasons to do this.

It was okay as long as it made Finn feel better.


End file.
